


I was crying when I met you

by AgentOfShip



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Pining, Romance, SO MUCH FLUFF, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-10-25 00:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10752609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentOfShip/pseuds/AgentOfShip
Summary: Jemma has been living in New York for a few months and is feeling a little lonely. That is until she stumbles upon a crying young man on the edge of the sidewalk after a disappointing evening. When she decides to take care of him a bit, she thinks that's definitely an unexpected way of ending her night but what she doesn't know is that it might also end up making her whole life more interesting. Rated T but might change to M later.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to be a relatively short fluffy story and then I started writing and it turned out a bit longer. And my own rather less dramatic version of the whole Aida/Fitz relationship. Turns out I'm quite unable to write something short so this should be around nine/ten chapters long and since a few of them are already written, this should be updated at least once a week, maybe a bit more often if I can manage. And in the meantime, I'll keep uploading older works from FF.  
> As always, comments are most welcome <3

Jemma Simmons initially thought it was a good idea to accept her colleague's invitation to go out that night. They'd all been working together at SciTech for a few months already, and except for Bobbi Morse, her fellow biochemist, she barely knew anything about them and thought it would finally be a good opportunity to change that. The evening had started out quite nicely: talking a bit about work, sharing a few more personal anecdotes and drinking wine. Until Hunter (how ridiculous was it really to insist on being called by his surname all the time? Especially when Lance, his name, was a perfectly acceptable name to begin with), Bobbi's boyfriend came in. From what she gathered from the few conversations they had over lunch these past months, their relationship was complicated, having broken up a number of times and always getting back together. But apparently, things were more than good recently because after ten minutes, they'd somehow disappeared from the bar and Jemma was left politely listening to everyone else, too shy and uninterested by their conversation to take part in it and to her own dismay, no one really tried to make her participate either.

So after an hour, she used the stuffiness of the bar and her own tiredness as an excuse, pretended a headache and quickly said goodbye before going out. With the disappointment that this evening had been, she only wanted to get home as fast as possible, take a very long shower, change clothes, have a nice cup of tea and go to bed knowing she'd be allowed to sleep in for as long as she felt like it in the morning. Then she would probably spend the day reading and finally take the time to start working out again. And as much as she liked that idea, she had to admit that it was all a bit lonely. She always thought herself to be quite friendly and likable but she'd been in New York almost four months now and she hadn't felt any real connection to anyone yet. Given the opportunity she could probably become good friends with Bobbi but for now, she was alone most of the time when she wasn't at work and it wasn't like she had the time to meet people elsewhere anyway.

And that's because she was so lost in thoughts that she didn't pay any attention to the young man sitting on the edge of the sidewalk just outside the bar. That is only until she heard something that sounded a lot like a sob. She turned around towards where she thought the sound was coming from and had the confirmation it was coming from him when she heard what was definitely a second sob and saw his posture. His shoulders were shaking a bit and his head was in his hands, probably trying to muffle the sounds of his crying. Something clenched in her heart at the sight. Science could probably explain how she felt at that moment. Something about maternal instinct or maybe just an instinct to reach out to a fellow member of her species in distress but all she knew then was that this man felt bad enough to cry on his own in the middle of the street and she couldn't find it in herself to act like she didn't notice. 

She took the few steps separating them and touched his shoulder as gently as possible. 

"Hey, is everything alright?" She asked in a soft tone and winced at the stupidity of her question. Of course it wasn't. He was crying in the street for god's sake.

He slowly turned his face to look up at her. The first thing she noticed was his strikingly blue eyes, red rimed and unfocused under his furrowed brows. Visibly, he was not only sad but also had quite a bit too much to drink. In his intoxicated state, he looked like he was wondering if he was supposed to recognize this stranger looking worriedly at him and if he could talk to her. But once he took the decision, the words started flowing out of him and for a moment it felt like there would be no stopping him. 

"Didn't even give me any warning, one day we're happy and then she's-she's ... and I mean what kind of a stupid name is Anton? Can't love someone with such a stupid name and I-I thought I did everything she-she ... what did I do wrong? Maybe I could have-I could I don't know ..." He started but then another sob escaped his lips and he had his head in his hands again, crying. Of course the poor thing was heartbroken, it made sense, there were not so many reasons for a man to end up in such a state. He was much younger that she originally thought he would be judging only by his very elegant suit, maybe even younger than she was, and very Scottish too. But maybe the thickness of his accent was only intensified by the alcohol and the strength of his feelings, she'd noticed that on a friend she'd had back home and the memory made her feel a bit nostalgic and that much more empathic of the young man in front of her. 

Without really thinking about it too much, she sat down next to him and tentatively put an arm around his shoulder.   
"Hey I-I'm sorry. I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes these things just ... happen" She said softly. Honestly, she had no way of knowing if he did but if she understood correctly, he'd been dumped for someone else without warning and as irrational as it was, she didn't feel like someone with such a soft face could do anything bad enough to deserve that. For a moment, he didn't react at all and as she was starting to believe that maybe, he didn't hear her at all, he rested his head on her shoulder. She was a bit startled for a moment, thinking that maybe she shouldn't let this stranger invade her personal space like that but then again, she was the one who came to him and he looked so miserable and harmless that she didn't have the heart to push him away. So she started to make what she hoped were soothing circles on his arm with her hand until it seemed like he had finally stopped crying.

"Should just give up completely 's just not for me... love, women, all that" He said, his words starting to slur a lot more, making her think that he might be even more drunk than she initially thought. 

"Oh don't say that ..."

"Maybe join a monastery or something..."

"Don't you think it's a bit extreme?"

"'d probably shave my head too, hair's a bloody nightmare to take care off anyway" He said and she couldn't help the small chuckle that came out of her mouth. He was really self deprecative but at least he wasn't crying anymore. 

"Maybe give yourself a few days before taking your decision?" She said with a slightly teasing tone and he took his head off her shoulder to look at her like he was suddenly remembering there was an actual living person attached to this shoulder. Even looking a bit like a wreck, he really was quite cute up close and it made her smile a bit more. It would really be a shame to shave off such pretty curly hair. He seemed to think about her suggestion like it was a very complex question but then he shook his head. 

"Nope! Monastery it is!" He said as he suddenly stood up and she had the confirmation that he was really extremely drunk because it took all her strength and best reflexes to stop him from falling back. He didn't need an actual physical injury on top of his broken heart. He wasn't much taller than she was and quite lean but with all his weight leaning on her, she thought it was still quite a remarkable feat to keep him up.

"Come on, let's get you home! I'm gonna call you a cab. Where do you live?" She asked a bit breathless as she was fighting to keep him from falling. 

"Doesn't matter anymore, take me to a monastery!" 

"Oh come on ..." She said, slightly amused if a bit exasperated. She would have to use a different approach. "Fine but I don't know where the nearest monastery is. Give me your phone so I can look it up." And he did just that. Fortunately, he was drunk enough not to question her as long as she was playing along with his crazy idea. She opened up google maps in the hope that his home address would be programmed in it and it was. A true hacker she was! It was also really close from where they were. Theoretically less than a ten minutes walk but probably a bit more in his state. 

After thinking about it for a minute, she finally started moving. Now that she started taking interest in him, she couldn't let him here on his own, he looked too much like a lost puppy. She could definitely not trust him to go home on his own either, afraid he'd do something even stupider than looking for a monastery. So she decided that a bit of fresh air could actually do him some good and his flat was almost on the way to her own anyway, so she put his arm around her shoulder and her own around his waist to support him better and started walking. 

"D'you find the monastery?" He asked, his face really close to her own. 

"Yeah ... I'm taking you there"

"Thank you that's-that's ... nice. You're really nice hum ...?" 

"Jemma, my name's Jemma" She said, guessing that was why he took a break in his sentence.

"I'm Jemma, nice to meet you Fitz. 's nice name too and nicest person I know ... are you going to stay at the monastery with me?" He asked with a child like tone and she couldn't help giggling a bit.

"I don't think women are allowed to live there ... and I thought that was the whole point anyway?" 

"Oh yeah ... smart too ... could make an exception for you?" 

"Hmmm sure I'll ask them" She said, amused to see that he was already starting to see the faults in his big plans for a new life of meditation and celibacy. 

"Yeah really nice ..." He added looking down at her with a dopey smile she couldn't help reciprocating. It was a bit heartwarming to see him smile even though she knew he would probably feel even worse when he wakes up the next morning and remembers why he was sad in the first place.

-0-0-0-

After fifteen minutes of listening Fitz (if it was actually his name) talking to her in a surprisingly coherent way about a wide range of subjects going from monkeys to androids and actually telling herself he managed to sound more interesting than any of the people she spent the evening with, she finally made it to his building door. Fortunately, someone was going out of it as they were getting there because there was no way that he would have given the code for the door as he was still pretty sure they were getting to the monastery. 

"This place doesn't look like a monastery Jemma" He whispered into her hear. 

"That's because it's a very recent monastery, very modern ..." 

"Hush Jemma, you're not supposed to speak so loud in here, you'll disturb the-the you know with the hands and the ... words and ..." He said, actually speaking louder than she was in a stage whisper voice and wildly gesticulating with his hands.

"Praying?" She said, whispering back while trying to hide her grin. 

"Yeah that!" 

"Well, let's get you to your flat, I mean cell, let's get you to your cell, okay?"

"Okay!"

After looking for his flat number on the mailboxes, she managed to get him into the elevator and all the way to the third floor. 

"You know this place looks kind of familiar ...."

"Oh yeah?" She said as they got to his door hoping she'd managed to just put him to bed before he realized he was home and tried to get out to find an actual monastery.

As she searched for his keys in his back pocket, Jemma wondered if it really was what her life had become. New York was supposed to be a huge city full of exciting new people to meet and after months here, the closest she was getting to a sex life was involuntarily feeling up a stranger's (rather nice and firm) bum through his trousers without him even noticing it. 

Once they were inside, she managed to find his room easily and when they were close enough to his bed, he fell on it without her having to tell him so and fell asleep almost instantly, snoring lightly and a small smile crept up her face. He really was quite adorable. She wondered if she should take his clothes off. That suit, as flattering as it was, looked very uncomfortable to sleep in but she would really feel like a creep getting a stranger's clothes off as he was unconscious. So she settled for taking off his shoes, vest and tie (she didn't want him to choke himself with it in his sleep) and opened the first few buttons of his dress shirt. He would have to do the rest on his own if he woke up at some point. 

"So what now?" She asked herself. Could she just leave like that? No. For some reason or another, in the half hour since she'd met him, she somehow grew attached to him. Maybe because his sad eyes really reminded him of a puppy dog or because his Scottish accent was kind of soothing after feeling so lonely in a new country for the past few months or simply because she just knew what it was to have a broken heart. Most likely it was a combination of all those reasons but what she knew for sure was that he would feel bad in many ways in the morning. So, since she couldn't reasonably wait for him to wake up, after all she had to take care of herself as well, she thought about she could do for him when he wakes up on his own. First she went to his bathroom in search of some aspirin and then in the kitchen where she found a bottle of water. She put it all on his nightstand and left a simple note saying "take two pills and as much water as you can!" and as she was walking towards his window to close the blinds, he was bound to have a headache and would probably not appreciate waking up with the sun as she did herself, she wondered how drunk he was and how much of tonight he would remember. 

After pondering about it for a few minutes, she looked in her bag for another piece of paper, wrote "If you need help remembering last night, give me a call! And in any case, please text me when you're awake, you don't look too good at the moment." and signed with her name and phone number. She just hoped he'd take this as a genuine show of concern and not her "giving him his number", the man had just had his heart broken in quite a brutal way apparently and he needed support, not being hit on, especially by a woman he probably wouldn't even remember.

She put the note on the other side of his bed, next to his phone to make sure he'd see it and closed the door on her way out. Just as she was about to leave his flat, something caught her eye on his desk. It looked like very complex technical drawings as well as several pages of maths equations. 

"Now that's interesting ..."


	2. Chapter 2

When Fitz woke up a few hours later, his first thought was that he probably fell asleep on the sidewalk he was sitting on the previous night. Because a rat coming to die in his mouth was the only explanation for the horrible taste in the back of his throat. Then as he slowly regained more consciousness, he realized that he was actually in his room in pretty much the same clothes he'd been wearing the previous day. So somehow he'd been conscious enough to go home from the bar on his own but drunk enough to not remember it? 

Strange.

When he slowly lifted his head from the pillow, he could see a bottle of water next to a small bottle of pills that were accompanied by a small note in a pretty, elegant handwriting telling him to take two of those. So ... did he somehow fall into Wonderland? Would the pills make him shrink? Would he be able to sail away on a sea of his own tears? Well that was a possibility. He didn't remember much about the previous night except that it felt like Aida had ripped his heart from his chest and that there'd been a lot of crying. From him obviously.

But then again, his whole body hurt too much for it to be a dream. it never hurt like that even in his nightmares.

So could it be elves? Was his mother right all along? Were elves really responsible for everything strange happening inside people's houses? 

Anyway, whoever was responsible for this, those pills looked like aspirin and considering the pounding headache he was feeling, on top of all the other parts of his body that hurt, it felt like a bloody good idea to take them. So he did just that and downed almost all the content of the water bottle for good mesure. He only had the energy to take off his ridiculously tight trousers and shirt before his head fell back on the pillow and he fell into a deep slumber.

-0-0-0-

The next time he awoke, Fitz had no idea how long he'd slept. All he knew was that, from the light passing through the cracks in the blinds, the sun was up and that he felt slightly less awful than the last time, physically at least. Turning around in bed, groaning, he finally located his phone on the other nightstand and crawled on his belly to reach for it, hoping that maybe it could fill out a few blanks about the past evening. Turned out his phone was only able to inform him that it was almost 4 PM, which meant that he must have slept at least eight hours since the last time he woke up when it was still dark out. But next to his phone was another note in the same neat handwriting as the one telling him to take aspirin. His elf was apparently a woman named Jemma offering to fill those blanks if he called her. 

Without really thinking about it, he started typing the number on his phone but then as he cleared his throat, he realized how dry it was and hung up, hoping it didn't have time to connect before he did so. He would probably sound like his old aunt Mildred right now, the one that started smoking when she was 15 and was quite a medical mystery considering she was still alive and quite healthy, except for the fact that her voice was eerily similar to that of a crow. 

Gathering all his courage and energy, he got out of bed and into the bathroom. After relieving himself, he went to the sink to wash his hands and maybe try to freshen up a bit. 

"Fuuuuck" He let out when he saw his reflection in the mirror. "Forget about the animal dying in my mouth" he thought, he must have died on that sidewalk, there was no other explanation for how awfully pasty he looked, not to mention those horrible bags under his eyes, especially after having slept for so long. It also explained why he couldn't remember walking home at all. He should probably be looking for a "Handbook for the recently deceased" somewhere in his flat. Maybe this Jemma person left one for him. 

But for the time being, he settled for washing his face, brushing his teeth and then he would drink a gallon of water before deciding if he should just go back to bed and stay there until he'd have to go to work on Monday or call this mystery woman. As tempting as the bed option was, he had to admit he was a little bit intrigued as to why a stranger would take the time to bring him home and still want to have anything to do with the drunk mess she obviously took pity on the next day. 

Also it really bothered him not to remember anything after Aida broke his heart because between the tears he'd had a few rage outbursts when he'd thought about finding that Anton bloke and kill him. And even though, he still found the idea appealing, he really hoped he didn't do it because he couldn't afford to end up in prison. Life had been complicated enough in the free world for the small genius boy he'd been, he didn't think he'd fare much better in prison.

So after putting on an old tracksuit bottom and a relatively clean t-shirt lying around in the bathroom, he took his phone and went to the kitchen to take another bottle of water from the fridge before calling this Jemma woman. On his way though, something caught his eyes on his desk. His drawings and equation sheets were where he left them the last time he worked on his drones. He knew he was stuck on something but was ashamed to realize that it'd been so long since he worked on it that he didn't really remember what was that specific thing. He'd been so busy at work lately and since he met Aida six months ago, he didn't really have time for anything ... or anyone else. Well if he was completely honest, it wasn't really a matter of time, more that Aida was quite demanding and never really connected with any of his friends and so he kind of stopped seing most of them after a time. And now he was terribly miserable and lonely and it was all his fault. 

but in his misery, he still noticed the many post-it notes all over his work. Some were corrected equations, some were suggestions to fix a specific item or improve it and from what he could tell at first look, it all looked really good. One of those ideas apparently seemed not only to be fixing the problem he'd been having with Sneezy but probably making him able to recognize even more subtle scents and airborne substances. Also, one of those notes said : "This is amazing! Do call me, I have a lot more suggestions if you're interested." in the same handwriting than the other notes in his room. So it was safe to guess that they were from this mystery woman who was getting more and more intriguing by the minute. Because anyway, what were the chances of another mystery woman coming into his flat to fix his equations while he was passed out drunk?

He was so deeply focused on reading all those notes and checking if they were all as brilliant as they looked to be that he missed the sound of the discreet knock on his door. it took a second much stronger knock to get him out of his engineering transe. His treacherous brain made him hope for a moment that it was Aida coming to tell him that she'd changed her mind. And even though she cheated on him and left him for the man she cheated on him with, Fitz knew he would take her back in a heartbeat if she asked him to.

"Oh thank god you're alive!" Said the woman facing him when he finally opened the door. 

Considering that he didn't really recognize her but her english accent was familiar and she inspired him something nice and comforting, the thing he wanted to ask her was: "Are you Jemma?" to confirm who he thought she was. But somehow as she looked at him with relief in her eyes and a soft smile on her pretty fresh face, he was kind of mesmerized and what came out of his mouth was: "Are you the elf?" 

Even as he buried his face in his hands, he could see her smile going from soft to a full blown grin. 

"Depending on what kind you're talking about, I'm pretty sure I'm either way too short or way too tall" She answered, surprise and amusement evident in her voice, and he let out a small groan of embarrassment. "I'm Jemma by the way" She said in a gentler tone.

"Yeah figured that one out ..."

"Okay that's good then ... but what made you think I wasn't human?"

"Well alcohol obviously!" He answered, finally looking up at her while rolling his eyes and she scrunched her nose in confusion. Apparently this wasn't a sufficient explanation. "Woke up during the night and found your note with the aspirin. With the amount of alcohol in my blood and since I had no memory of you, elves seemed like a good enough explanation at the time ..."

"I see ..." She answered trying to hide her amusement. 

"Obviously I don't think that anymore but I guess my brain still isn't fully functional and you kind of took me by surprise, didn't expect you to come back and ..."

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intrude I mean ... it was getting late and I still hadn't heard from you and I got ... worried and then" She said, wringing her hands together, visibly a bit embarrassed. 

"Oh please don't apologize, that was really-hmm-sweet of you" He cut her off, his own embarrassment growing. "But was I-I mean was I really that bad that you're relieved I'm alive?" He added wincing. He certainly looked awful but he didn't think he'd been drunk to the point that she feared for his life. 

"Oh no ... I mean yes but you could walk and talk so I figured if I brought you home, you'd be fine with a good night's sleep. But as I said, it got late and I started thinking that maybe I underestimated the situation and you fell into a coma or something and so ... yeah here I am." She said with a small sheepish smile. "I tend to worry easily" She added with a self deprecative roll of her eyes.

"Well ... I get drunk to the point of forgetting a whole chunk of my evening so ... who I am to judge?" He answered and they both chuckled. 

A slightly uncomfortable silence settled as they were both searching for something to say. 

"Well, I should probably go now, you need to rest some more and ..." She started after a time but he cut her off.

"Oh no no no please stay-I mean you don't have to if you don't want to of course but I-hmm- I mean you've done enough already but-hmm-you came all this way and I-do you want coffee or tea or something? And also I-hmm-I do have a few questions about last night and ... all those notes. They're pretty amazing!" He said gesturing toward his desk, annoyed by his inability to form complete and understandable sentences. 

"Tea would be nice" She said in a soft voice and he relaxed a bit, surprised that she managed to understand what he said. But after all if she'd been able to handle a drunk Fitz, understanding a hungover Fitz probably proved to be much easier in comparison.

"Oh ... okay good ... yeah okay you can have a seat if you like and I'll take care of that yeah?" He said as he let her inside the living room and went to the small adjacent kitchen. 

"So you really don't remember anything about last night?" She asked, her tone still careful but still loud enough for Fitz to hear her from the kitchen. Of course he remembered the worst anniversary of his life. Well at least what he thought was an anniversary. The rest was much hazier.

"Well I remember the first part of the evening much too well actually, it's the part after the bar that's gonna need a lot of clarification. I mean now that I see you, I think a few things are coming back but it doesn't make much sense so ..."

"Well, then you probably remember correctly!" She cut him off with an amused tone. Which he didn't mind really, at least it was momentarily taking his mind off the fact that his had been torn out of his chest and crushed but when he came back from the kitchen with a dejected face, it took him a moment to realize that she probably thought she'd hurt him. 

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you, I know you were sad and I'm really sorry about that by the way but you were also kind of funny actually and I thought ..." 

"Oh no don't be, you have every reason to make fun of me, I don't mind" He cut her off as he came to sit next to her on the couch. Without really thinking about it, he put his hand gently on her shoulder to reassure her. She did worry a lot, especially when it only involved a stranger to who she owed nothing. If anything it was the opposite. "No it's just that I really wanted to offer you some tea or anything to drink really but ... turns out I only have beer and sriracha and I mean you can have beer if you want but personally, I don't think I'll be having some for the next few months ..."

"Oh ..." She answered, smiling softly again. "That's fine I don't need to drink anything, I just came to make sure ..."

"Actually I'm kind of starving and I could really use some tea right now and there's this nice coffee shop just around the corner from my building ... and I mean I'd understand if you didn't want to because I already took up so much of your time but ..."

"Yes that'd be lovely Fitz!" She cut him off and when she saw the look on his face, she added: "Don't be so surprised, I asked you to call me to talk about those designs and equations, remember? And I meant it when I said they were really good. They're quite fascinating really"

"Oh right then ..." He said, smiling a little bashfully but sincerely. "And by the way, I don't know if i properly introduced myself last night but my full name's Leo Fitz but please keep calling Fitz!" He added and she smiled back. It's been so long since he'd seen such a sweet genuine smile that it felt like a little balm for his broken heart. Aida was beautiful, gorgeous even, and she did smile sometimes but sweet and warm weren't the kinds of words that came to mind when describing her.

"And I'm Jemma Simmons ... and you can keep calling me Jemma of course!"

"Well I don't know if I said that already but it's nice to meet you Jemma!"

That sweet smile again. 

"Nice to meet you too Fitz"

-0-0-0-

It took Fitz almost a full minute to realize that Jemma wasn't eating her cake but was instead looking at him with a mixture of amusement and disapproval on her face. Realizing that he'd managed to gulp down most of his sandwich in such little time, he sheepishly put back what was left of it in his plate and tried to look detached as he took a sip of his cup of tea. 

So of course, her small grin turned to a full blown laugh and even though he was blushing a bit, he couldn't help laughing with her. it was a nice change, Aida would have probably scolded him very seriously for his bad table manners. 

"Damnit!" Fitz thought. Why did he have to compare everyone and everything to her even when he was having an unexpectedly good time with a stranger that was also probably the nicest and most interesting person he'd met in a long time.

"For my defense, I didn't eat anything since lunch yesterday ..." He said a bit grumpy and she smiled even wider.

"That's alright, I was just merely impressed by how fast you were able to eat it" She grinned. "Pace yourself though or you might get sick, especially with all the alcohol probably still in your blood" She added with a softer smile. 

"Oh ... are you a doctor or something?" He teased.

"Yeah ... well not the medical kind but ... yeah" She answered with a slightly bashful smile.

"Oh ... nice! What kind then?" 

"Biochemistry ..."

"Oooooh so that's why you knew how to fix Sneezy!" He cried out, feeling strangely exhilarated considering he was still completely depressed at the same time. 

"Sneezy?" She said, raising an amused eyebrow.

"The drone design you saw on my desk? I had been stuck on it for months and you just fixed in no time ... I mean I haven't really had time to work on it recently but still it's amazing, how did you do it?"

"I don't know, just seemed pretty obvious, fresh look on it or something but I think-I mean it's because you design is really ingenious too. So elegant ..."

For a moment, they just looked at each other smiling bashfully. It felt like her comment had sparked something inside of him. It had been a long time since someone took a genuine interest in his work, especially someone who could obviously understand it, that he was at a loss to know how to engage conversation.

"So I take it you're an engineer? Where do you work?" 

And somehow this simple question, which might have been out of need to fill this slightly uncomfortable silence for all he knew, was the push they needed to start really talking.

For the next two hours or so, they spoke mostly about work, about their careers and their respective jobs, about all the projects they were working on, about the fact that they had projects they could not talk about and of course about Fitz's personal project that Jemma had been able to help improve by simply looking at it in the middle of the night when all the people he'd consulted about it had been unable to help. It felt nice to be excited about work again, engineering had always been his first love and somehow between his job that was proving to be a bit disappointing and his demanding relationship with Aida, he'd forgot about it. And in the end between two rather passionate exchanges about what could be the use of his sixth and seventh dwarves, they did share a few personal things. They discovered that they had a mutual love for Doctor Who even though they disagreed on who was the best one. Jemma told him how lonely she'd felt since she came to New York a few months ago. He told her a bit about his disastrous relationship with Aida and how he felt unappreciated at work. The conversation was so effortless between them, going from amusing banter to serious conversations about science, that they barely noticed the place emptying around them.

By the time the coffee shop closed, they'd agreed to work together on Fitz's drones. He may finally have an opportunity to show his boss his real value or if not, find a more interesting job and even though he tried to convince her by telling her she'd a get a share if they could sell the idea, it's the perspective of having finally found one of those interesting persons she was supposed to meet in New York that did it for her. Not that she really needed convincing anyway, the drawings having done most of the job the previous night already.

"Okay just one last thing before you go home, I have to ask: Why did you do it?"

"Why did I do what?" She answered, confused as they stood just outside of the coffee shop. The weather was nice, it was Saturday afternoon and that had a really good time together so neither of them really seemed in a hurry to go home.

"You know, last night ... coming to talk to me, taking care of me and everything?" He said, blushing a bit. Even though she already told him he didn't do anything exceedingly embarrassing, he just couldn't help with the blushing. 

"Well you were crying! What kind of monster sees a person crying and doesn't want to help?" She answered matter of factly and he felt something in his chest tightening. 

"Lots of people actually! Last night is still quite fuzzy in my mind but I had been there for a while already when you came to talk to me ..."

"Well I don't know, I just-you looked so ... lost and sad ... I mean would you ignore a puppy abandoned on the sidewalk?" She answered, blushing a bit herself. 

He didn't know if it was the idea of someone abandoning a puppy that was just so sad, or the fact that he was touched by how caring she was or because he was already depressed and exhausted but it's with horror that he felt his eyes start to tear up. Last night he'd been drunk and had just had his heart broken but it was just not acceptable to cry in front of her again. He knew he was the one who brought up the subject but he would have to change it or lighten the mood soon if he didn't want to make a fool of himself again.

"A puppy? Way to boost a man's ego when he's already down" He said, grinning as best as he could and hoping she wouldn't notice his teary eyes in the soft light of the setting sun. 

"Oh Fitz, you know what I mean right? And anyway, I would have just put you in a cab but you were so adamant on joining a monastery that I thought it was safer to get you all the way to your apartment. Somehow I felt that you might regret it at some point." She grinned and he chuckled, grateful that she picked up on the change of mood. 

"Yeah the silence would be nice but I think that me not believing in God might be a problem at some point ... not to mention the ungodly hour at which they wake up in the morning. Pun intended!" 

"And honestly, it would really be too bad to shave your hair off." She added with a warm smile and it made him blush slightly. Was that a compliment? He wasn't used to that anymore. 

"Well Fitz, it was nice meeting you but I should really get going now."

"Oh of course, well thank you again for last night and for ... well everything really. And I-hum- I'll call you so we can find a moment to work together on the drones ... if that's alright with you?" He asked tentatively. He still couldn't believe that after years of studying and working as an engineer, he finally found the perfect lab partner by crying outside a bar on a Friday night. Maybe he should have tried that a long time ago.

"Don't mention it. And yes please call me, this is a very exciting project!" She said, gently squeezing his arm for a second to reassure him and she seemed to hesitate for a moment before talking again. "Also ... if you feel sad or depressed again, you can call me to talk about that too ... Just don't get drunk again ... or join a monastery!" She said with the softest of smiles and he could only nod and smile back. 

So she was definitely not an elf of any kind but right now, he couldn't completely reject the idea that she was an angel.


	3. chapter 3

Fitz called Jemma as promised the very next day, feeling the need to tell her who he was even though he put his name and number in her phone himself. He even asked if she still remembered him. Like she would forget about him in less than twenty four hours. He also asked her again if she still wanted to work on his drones with him. He sounded shy and unsure in a way she found rather endearing. It was a nice change from the extra confident men she was surrounded with at work. But it was also a bit sad that someone who was so smart and had obviously so much to offer was lacking confidence so badly. So after assuring him that yes, she was still very much interested, they agreed to start working together at Fitz's flat a few days later after work. 

Their first working session was just as interesting as she thought it would be and then some. Even though they only worked three hours that day, they managed to fix several of his drone's problems. And after only an hour into their second session, Fitz realized that the designing phase as well as the simulations were done and it was now time to start actually building it. Of course that didn't put an end to their working sessions because now, they also had ideas for a few other drones. It soon became obvious to both of them how well they worked together. Most of the time, they didn't even have to end their sentences because one's brain would always catch up to the other's before they were done speaking. And when they didn't agree on something, they would bicker until they ended up finding a better solution than what they both thought of on their own. Not only did they work well together, but the presence of the other seemed to make them both an even smarter version of themselves. They'd finally found someone who could really challenge them intellectually. So it didn't even surprise her when she learned that, just like her, he had his first PHD at only seventeen.

These were without a doubt the best moments Jemma has had since she came to live in New York and she even found herself doing her best to leave work as early as possible every time they were planning on working together. Because even though she loved her job, she was starting to love working on Fitz's drones and other projects even more.   
The only thing she was regretting was that Fitz seemed to be holding himself back. Not professionally of course, but personally. When they were working, he never hesitated to rebuke her if he thought she was wrong, or tease her or just speak his mind about anything, but as soon as they strayed off course towards something just a tad more personal, he seemed to be reverting back to the shy young man that he'd been on the phone when he called her to arrange their first "work date". They did talk about a few stuff that weren't directly related to work like some of the books he had on his shelves or the last Doctor Who episode but he never took up on her offer of talking about his very recent break up. 

She knew he was definitely not over it. She could see that he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep more often than not. She could see how sad he looked when he thought she wasn't looking or how he would tune out at the mention of something that seemed totally random but, she guessed, probably reminded him of his ex. Of course they've only known each other two weeks and hadn't spent that much time together and she supposed he had close friends to talk about it with even if she didn't remember him mentioning them. He'd been in New York much longer than she had and even if he was a bit shy, he was also really sweet, smart and funny so he had to have made friends by now. 

But she was still a bit frustrated and disappointed because she felt like they could become very good friends, the best of friends really, if he trusted her a bit more and she was craving for this kind of relationship as much she had been craving the kind of amazingly motivating work relationship they had already started to develop. And since Jemma wasn't one to be discouraged so easily, she decided that she would keep on trying, she'd be patient and somehow she'd manage to make him open up to her. She was sure of it.

Turned out she was right to think so because she would actually get that opportunity the very next time they'd see each other. That day, Jemma had managed to leave work early enough to go home, take a shower and make sandwiches before going out again to go to Fitz's. Her mom had always told her that food was the way to a man's heart and even though her mom had meant it in a romantic sense and Jemma never liked that phrase because she always thought a woman had a lot more to offer than that, she had to admit that it could be a good ice breaker sometimes. Especially with someone like Fitz whose passion for food was only equalled by his passion for science. And since he'd been preparing or paying for dinner almost every time they'd worked together, she thought it was about time she did something nice for him as well. And her prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich with pesto aioli had always been a hit. He kept saying that he owed her for taking care of him that first night and even though she kind of found all his attentions for her adorable, it was time he understood he didn't need to keep paying her back. She chose to do a nice gesture that night and she didn't regret it one second because she got to meet someone she hoped would stay in her life for a long time. 

It took a good fifteen minutes walk from her place to his and with the nice weather and the days getting longer, it put her in an even better mood than she already was at the idea of spending another great evening working with Fitz. When she walked out of the elevator at Fitz's floor, there was a spring to her step as she walked toward his flat and she barely noticed the tall woman carrying a rather big cardboard box that passed by her in the hallway. When she knocked on his door, she was surprised that it took him quite some time to come open it for her. All the other times, he'd been so fast that she even wondered with amusement if he hadn't actually been waiting for her behind the door. 

"Hi" He simply said once he finally opened the door and the bright smile she had on her face since she left home fell immediately. He looked rather awful, really pale and without even the hint of a smile on his face. For a moment she wondered if he'd been drinking again but no, he didn't smell of alcohol and his eyes were focused.

"Hello Fitz ... Oh ... you don't look too well. What's wrong?" She asked getting even more worried when she realized that he had opened the door just enough for him to be able to see her and had apparently no intention of inviting her in. 

"Ah-hum ... sorry Jemma, yeah I don't feel too well, probably caught a cold or something, I would have told you sooner but ..."

"Oh ... are you sure? You don't really look sick, just ..."

"No really, a colleague at work was ill yesterday, probably caught what he had and it's only ..."

"Oh but you don't even seem to have a fever" She said, after touching his forehead without thinking about it and realizing that maybe she had crossed some kind of boundary because he swatted her hand with an annoyed look on his face. 

He must have seen the flash of hurt on her face as she reacted at his gesture because his face immediately softened. It was nothing really and coming from anyone else, she wouldn't have cared one bit, but he'd been so perfectly sweet until now that it surprised her.

"Listen I'm sorry but I really don't feel good. I think it'd be better if we worked some other time ..." 

Now, she was pretty sure he wasn't sick so what was wrong? What didn't he tell her? Did he just want to get rid of her?

"But Fitz ... Are you sure? I mean if something's else wrong you can talk to me ..."

"NO! Please just ... I just want to be alone-I-I don't want to- I might be contagious ..."

Again with the harsh tone. 

And then it hit her. She barely had a second to see her as they crossed paths but this was a face that was hard to forget. Very beautiful and cold. No sadness, no hanger, just plain coldness. Just like on the picture she saw for just a second on Fitz's phone when looking involuntarily over his shoulder. How could she look so unaffected when Fitz was just the opposite right now?

"Oh ... you just saw Aida, didn't you?"

"What? no ..." He started but he was obviously lying. And not very well.

"It was her I passed in the hallway, right? I should have known of course ..."

He sighed in admission but he didn't relax. If anything he felt even more tense than he was five seconds before.

"Yeah yeah alright so please just-I'm really not ..."

"You know you can talk to me right?"

"Jemma ..."

"... You don't need to stay on your own ..."

"NO! Jemma ... just go please ..." His tone was getting harsh again and now the worry and sadness she felt for him were starting to turn into a bit of anger. Why didn't he want her help? Maybe their relationship was just strictly professional after all. 

"But Fitz ..."

"No Jemma please ..."

"FINE!" She cried out, her anger finally exploding. "If you'd really rather stay here all night and sulk or drink on your own 'til you're unconscious than talk about it with a friend, then have it your own way!" She said and then realizing that she was almost screaming and not wanting to cause a scene, she kept her voice lower to continue. "But what am I saying? We're probably not even friends anyway ... and to think I had made sandwiches!" She added, lifting the bag containing the sandwiches for him to see and then turning around to walk away. She knew that last part was a bit ridiculous, like sandwiches really were the ultimate proof of how she cared for him, but at this point she was too mad at him to admit it.

"Goodnight Fitz!" She said with a very snappy tone, not even bothering to look back at him. 

But she barely had the time to make it a few meters before she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Jemma wait no I'm-I don't know ..." Angry as she was, she wouldn't even have bothered to turn around if it wasn't for the desperate tone in his voice.

"I'm so sorry, please don't go ... I just-I didn't want you to see me like that-again but I don't know- I feel l-I could use a friend tonight ... if you're still willing to stay of course ..."

Damn it! How could she stay mad at him when he was looking at her with those big blue eyes filled with tears? And he must have sensed the shift in her mood as well because he gave her a weak tentative smile. 

"I had cake for you ..." 

Urgh. Adorable.

"Is it homemade?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and trying her best to keep her expression severe.

"Humm yeah?" He answered bashfully and she raised her eyebrow even higher. 

"I mean I'm pretty sure the baker baked it herself ..." He added and this time she couldn't help smiling back at him so she added an eye roll for good measure. 

"Fine ... then I guess I can stay for a while." She said and his face relaxed a bit even though it was still terribly sad. 

"And do I get to taste those really nice smelling sandwiches?"

Of course, he hadn't missed that part. Her mom might have been right after all.

"We'll see ..." She answered with a more teasing smile as she followed him inside his apartment. 

"Thank you!" He said and she barely had the time to close the door behind her before he engulfed her in a big hug, his arms encircling her shoulders. Taken by surprise, she froze for a moment and before she had the time to return his embrace, he moved away from her, blushing to the tips of his ears. He was still obviously on the brinks of tears and now she felt bad for making him feel uncomfortable about his sudden display of affection. It really wasn't unwelcome, just very unexpected. 

"I-I'm sorry ... I just-we don't know each other well enough for that, do we?" He asked and she gave him a very soft smile. 

"Maybe not ... but I think you really need it right now" She said and opened her arms for him with a tentative tilt of her head. 

For a moment, he just looked at her, biting his lower lip in an effort to stop it from quivering and the tears from finally falling from his eyes. And then, he slowly walked back towards her and tenderly took her back in his arms, immediately burying his face in her shoulder. After a minute or so, she could feel more than than she could hear the sobs that were finally escaping his lips. As he tightened his hold on her, she could also feel how his heart was almost beating out of his chest and her own eyes started to fill with tears. She always tried her best to control herself when something was wrong in her own life but she was an absolute wreck the moment someone else started crying in her presence.

There would be time to talk it out and maybe even try to lighten the weight on his chest a bit later tonight but for the moment, he just needed to let it out and relieve some of the tension that must have been messing him up for the past few weeks. So she hugged him back just as tight and cried with him in the silence of his small flat. 

-0-0-0-

She didn't know exactly how long they stayed that way in the middle of his living room but she was pretty sure it was the longest she'd ever hugged anyone. And even though it had been meant to comfort him, she actually found some kind of comfort in it as well. Not having any real friend since she came to live in New York (and it really was no use mentioning the desert that was her love life, even before New York if she was completely honest) also meant that she'd also had no physical contact with anyone other than a handshake or the occasional pat on the shoulder. And it was only now that she was comfortably snuggled against Fitz's surprisingly firm chest that she realized how much she'd missed it. 

She wouldn't have minded staying that way for a little longer but Fitz needed to talk and to have his spirits lifted. Now that he had stopped crying for a moment, she thought it was safe to ask him a question without him feeling embarrassed by his tears or the eventual shaky tone of his voice. 

"So ... was there some kind of hurricane in your flat earlier or ...?" She said with a teasing tone as her eyes roved over his usually tidy flat, now with what looked like the whole content of his wardrobe spread on the couch and floor. 

"Oh ... hum-yeah I kinda ... lost my temper" He said with a low chuckle that sent a small shiver down her spine as his lips were still really close to her ear. Then after a few seconds, he turned his face towards her to lay a soft kiss on her temple before disentangling himself from her.

For a moment, he looked at her bashfully, scratching his neck in a nervous gesture, visibly unsure of how welcomed his show of affection had been.

"Sorry-hmm-sorry I mean we're not close enough for that either, are we?"

"You know what? Maybe we are ..." She answered with a soft smile and he relaxed a bit. "Now make us some tea and tell me what happened here!" She added.

He looked at her with a slightly surprised expression for a few seconds then moved towards the kitchen.

"Bossy..." He grumbled. But there was no bite to it and she could see the corners of his mouth tick up slightly. Well that was a start.

-0-0-0-

"Wow that's so ... inconsiderate" Jemma said before putting her empty tea cup on the coffee table and sitting back in Fitz's comfy couch. She had been excited at the idea of working on their project tonight but it was shaping up to be quite a different evening, Fitz was finally opening up to her and she wasn't going to stop him anytime soon.

"Yeah ... understatement of the century! I mean I told her she could come pick up her things while I was at work, she still had a key but no! She insists on coming when I'm home and insists on getting back a stupid dress that's not even here. It's like-like she knew I was planning on having a nice evening and she wanted to ruin it ... like-like she wants to make every single day of my life miserable ..." He said, his brows furrowed in a mix of sadness and anger. 

Even though Jemma felt a nice little fluttering in her chest at Fitz's involuntary compliment, she was also growing more and more angry at that woman. The more she learned about her, the more she wondered how someone like Fitz even ended up with someone like that. 

"Well at least now you don't have to see her again, you can start moving on, focus on more positive things, see other people ..."

"Yeah ..." He said with a small smile that seemed tinged with fondness as he looked at her but also with a bit of something else sadder she didn't really understand.

"And is that why all your clothes ended up scattered all around your flat?" 

"Yeah ... well not exactly. Actually I managed to remain calm at first, told her to go look for it herself. Was pretty proud of myself. But then she started making comments about the state of my flat and saw the cake and asked if I was seeing someone tonight. But it's not like she was jealous or anything- that'd be rich coming from her but at least that'd be ... something ... no it's like she was just making small talk, like we barely knew each other, like she didn't choose to dump me on the day of our fucking six months anniversary because she didn't even remember that it was our six months anniversary..." 

His voice had gone up and his accent thicker by the end of his sentence but Jemma felt like he still had more on his chest so she just gently squeezed his arm to encourage him to continue. The gesture seemed to appease him a bit because his voice had gone back to a normal volume when he spoke again. 

"So yeah I kinda ... lost it after that, took all my clothes out of the closet ... seemed like a good idea at the moment, like it'd be faster this way. I just wanted her out as quick as possible."

"And did she ever find the dress?"

"No ... she left when I started to get ... angry, at least my little tantrum served its purpose ... said I was childish pfff ..." 

"Well it's still better than being a cold hearted lying bitch!" Jemma said and immediately put a hand on her mouth, blushing furiously and his eyes opened wide in surprise. "Oh my ... I'm sorry ... are we-are we close enough for me to bitch about your ex I've never even met?"

"I don't know ..." He said, a small smile slowly creeping up his face. "But please continue!" and after a few seconds, they both burst out laughing. 

-0-0-0-

"Jemma, you don't have to do that really" Fitz said as he put another one of his shirt back on a hanger and back in his closet.

"It's fine don't worry. Besides I'm not gonna watch you and do nothing while you tidy up the place. And it'll be faster if we do it together!" 

"I told you we can get to work and I'll clean this up later. It's my mess not yours!" He said taking another hanger with a pair of trousers from her.

"No way I'll be able to work in that mess Fitz!" She teased and he chuckled. "Ooooh nice!" She cried out as she stumbled upon a dark blue Doctor Who t-shirt with a Tardis on it under a pile of t-shirts that all seemed just as old. 

A soft smile appeared on his face when he came back to the living room to see what Jemma was talking about. 

"Oh wow I forgot about this one ... keep it if you like!" He said like it was the most natural thing in the world and since it seemed to be the theme of the evening, Jemma wondered if they were close enough for him to offer her to keep an old t-shirt of his and for her to accept it. In the back of her mind, a little voice also asked why it felt like the best gift ever. 

"Oh no Fitz I couldn't ..."

"No really I didn't wear this in ages ..."

"It's really sweet but ..."

"Probably too small now anyway ..." He said and she gave him a disbelieving glance. "What? Believe it or not, I did grow some muscle since I first bought that shirt!" He said defensively all while air quoting the word muscle. 

"I don't doubt that but it doesn't even look that small ..."

"Oh really?" He said with a defiant grin as he took the shirt from her hands. "Don't say I didn't warn you though because I'm going to look ridiculous and you're not allowed to laugh ..." and then he proceeded to strip of his own t-shirt and put the old one on instead. 

Jemma's eyes went wide and Fitz grinned triumphantly. Obviously she had to admit that the shirt was at least one or two sizes two small now and it hugged his chest in a way it definitely wasn't supposed to. And if Fitz took the look on her face as an admission that he was right, she wasn't going to contradict him because actually, even though it was a tad ridiculous, it also showed that yeah, he definitely wasn't as skinny as he must have been a few years ago. And now it would be hard to forget the sight of his slightly pasty but really nice subtly muscular chest. And with that smug little grin and hair slightly tussled from the way he quickly took off his shirt, she had to admit he wasn't just cute, he was downright handsome. And it kind of made her want to tell him to take the shirt off ... but not necessarily to put something else back on. And that was something she definitely couldn't say to him without making things awkward.

"Mmmh yeah ... okay-okay I guess I'll take it off your hands then ..." She said with a small grin, hoping the warmth she was suddenly feeling wasn't showing on her face, and she did her best not to ogle him as he changed back into his other shirt and threw the Doctor Who one to her. As she folded it to put it next to her handbag, she had to fight the weird urge to bring it to her face when she got a whiff of what was Fitz's indefinable but quite agreeable smell. 

God, she really needed to do something about this non existing sex life of hers because it really wouldn't do to start having these kinds of thoughts about the first real -and very heartbroken- friend she'd made since she came to live in New York. 

-0-0-0-

"Mmmh ... Fitz?" Jemma cried out as she dug through the last pile of clothing for an item that definitely didn't look like it belonged to Fitz. Unless it was. Which would mean she still had a lot to learn about him. 

"Yeah?" He said, peeking his head out of his bedroom door.

"Could it be the offending item that caused all this mess?" She said, standing up and stretching what looked like a very form fitting and quite elegant dress in front of her. (and probably one or two sizes too small for her ... skinny bitch!)

"Nope ... this one's mine!" He said and she burst out laughing. Now that was another image that would never leave her mind. 

"Yeah I think that's the one" He added after a moment. "So ... I guess the adult thing to do would be to send it back to her ..." He finished, rolling his eyes. 

"Yeah ... and you should do it soon too ..." She answered, putting the dress on the back of the couch as she started walking towards the coffee table. "... cause really, it would be too bad if someone were to accidentally ... spill something on it" She said with her best innocent smile as she reached for her tea cup and he sniggered. 

"Oh my ... I think you might be right Jemma ... especially since I know for a fact that it's a very fragile and expensive dress ..." He answered as they both started walking towards the back of the couch. 

"Oh is it really?" 

"Yeah that's what I've been told ... repeatedly"

"So I guess I'd better put this cup of very strong black tea away from it ..."

"Yeah you'd better ... oh no!" He said in fake shock as he very voluntarily nudged Jemma's elbow and effectively made her spill the tea all over the front of the light grey dress. 

"Oh no how clumsy of me ..." 

She didn't know if it was this whole childish situation or the exaggeratedly breathy voice she used but after looking at each other for a few seconds, they both burst out laughing. And what started as a soft amused laugh soon turned out to a full blown hysterical giggle fit, to the point where they had to sit down on the ground and had tears streaming down their faces. It only redoubled when Fitz took the teacup out of Jemma's hand and "clumsily" let more tea fall on the dress.

"Thank you Jemma" He said a few minutes later as they finally managed to stop laughing and were finishing tidying up his flat. 

"Oh it's nothing, I told you it'd be faster if we did it together ..." She started but he cut her off.

"No not for that ... well yes for that too obviously, but for everything, listening to me, comforting me, making me laugh ..."

"Helping you destroy your ex's property?"

"Yeah that too ..." He said with a soft smile.

"Well you really are quite welcome" She answered, smiling back.

"I really owe you a big one ..."

"Fitz. What did I tell you about ..." She started but then she looked up and saw the big mischievous grin on his face. 

"So childish ..." She said, balling one his shirts in her hands and throwing it at him. She rolled her eyes when he managed to catch it mid air and fist pumped about it with an even bigger grin but she couldn't help the fond little smile that made its way on her face.

In the end, they didn't spend a single minute working that night. Once they finished tidying up the place, they finally got to eating and Jemma was really pleased to hear how much he loved her sandwich. She made fun of the borderline pornographic sounds he made when he first tasted it and of course he retaliated when she did almost exactly the same as she tasted the decadent chocolate cake he had bought. After that, their conversation kept going. When he told her how much he missed his friends and how he couldn't bring himself to call them after abandoning them for Aida, some things finally started to make sense. Like the way he seemed to deflect every time she mentioned the fact that it's been hard making friends since she came to live in New York or the fact that she actually never heard him mention any of them before. Even if a part of her selfishly felt like keeping Fitz all to herself, she also knew that if she wanted to be a real friend to him, she needed to try anything to make him feel better. So when Fitz excused himself to go to the loo later that night, she took this opportunity to look out for one his friend's number in his phone. Jemma felt a bit like a thief and she actually didn't know if and how she would do that but she knew that she, at least, had to try to make things better for him.


	4. Chapter four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry it took me so long to post this one but for my defense it's quite a long chapter :) I think I'll cut the rest of the story into smaller chapters so I can update more often.   
> Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this one and as always comments are much welcome :)

"So ... what do you think?" Fitz asked anxiously.

Jemma had rather successfully maintained a poker face during his whole presentation and even though Sneezy had worked perfectly, he couldn't wait to know what she had to say about it. Somehow after less than two months, she had become the person he valued the opinion the most, and not only when science was involved.

"Hmmm ..." She started, keeping a neutral face for a five seconds until her smile almost split it in two and she started clapping her hands in excitement. "Fitz, i'ts fantastic! obviously!" She cried out and a big smile made its way on his own face.

"Ugh please Jemma, it's he not it!" He grinned.

"Of course ..." She grinned back.

"So you really like it?" He asked a little bashfully.

"Yeah ... I mean, it-sorry he works perfectly, even better than we thought. There was only a small drop of lavender oil on this scarf and I think it's been here for weeks, maybe months, it's incredible! And the design is just perfect and so elegant. It was really good on paper but now it's even better ... Well done Fitz, you're amazing!" She said and he could feel himself blushing more and more with every compliment. He shrugged like it was nothing and she smiled fondly before grinning at his words.

"Wow ... thank you but you know I couldn't have made it without you ... so really you should congratulate yourself as well as me!"

"Well ... I'm a bit too humble for that but I'm not above taking compliments from you though ..."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhhmmh ..."

"Well, I'd say you're quite amazing yourself ..."

"Yeah ..."

"And a brilliant biochemist ..."

"Mmhhmm" She answered raising her eyebrows in defiance and he grinned even wider.

"And very very nice and funny and you make excellent sandwiches and hmmm ... you have very good ... organizational skills and ..."

"Okay I think that's enough, it's getting kind of lame ..." She said, laughing while raising her hands to his chest to stop him.

"No wait there's more ... You also have a really nice-mmphffff" He started but she cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth so he grabbed her wrist to try and free himself, then she grabbed his wrist and that started a little harmless fight that ended by both of them laughing out loud and panting as they flopped down on his couch.

"Sorry ..." She said breathlessly. "Are we close enough for that?" She asked, grinning and he chuckled. Since that evening a few weeks ago, it had become some kind of private joke between them. They started using it every time any of them did something they thought the other might feel uncomfortable with but soon they were asking it about anything just new or just a little unusual. And every time, the answer was the same.

"Yeah, I think we are."

And every time, they shared that same soft smile that always warmed his heart.

For the past few weeks, they'd spent so much time working on the drones that he barely had time for anything else outside of work. It was all so exciting that, after a time, he realized he was thinking about Aida less and less every day. And when he did and it put him in a sour mood or made him sad, Jemma was always there to lift his spirits a bit. She was always willing to forget about their planned working session for a night of Doctor Who, pizza and beer. More and more often, work was merely and excuse to hang out with the person who was soon becoming his best friend. He kept telling himself that his "poor heartbroken little puppy face" would stop working at some point, or at least that he should stop using it and just be confident enough in their friendship to tell her what he really wanted to do when he asked her to come, but he wasn't totally ready to get rid of his fears.

"So what were you gonna say about me?" She asked, grinning again.

"Nope, too late ... shouldn't have interrupted me ..." He teased.

"Come on, I have a really nice ..." She said, raising an eyebrow and he couldn't help the big mischievous grin that split his face when he realized the many inappropriate ways he could have ended that sentence.

He actually meant to say handwriting since he honestly told himself that when he first saw her handwritten notes in his flat that famous morning but now that he thought about it, she had a lot of really nice ... things. Which of course made him blush and probably made her think he was actually talking about one of those things to begin with.

"Fitz!" She cried out, swatting his arm.

"Just kidding, I know we're definitely not close enough for ... that" He grinned and she rolled her eyes softly. He marveled at how they'd fallen into such an easy camaraderie and he told himself one more time how he should really stop doubting them.

"So tell me ..."

"Nope ..."

"Fiiiitz please!" She said pouting and looking at him with big puppy dog eyes.

"Hey don't do that, that's unf ..." He started but then saw how she had raised her eyebrows almost up to her hairline and deflected, realizing how much he'd been using that same move himself lately.

"Fine I was gonna say handwriting 'cause of ... you know, all your little notes ..."

"Oh ..." She started. "How sweet ... and disappointing ..." She continued with a small grin. "I thought there were nicer ... things about me but I guess ..." But she was hit by a cushion before she could finish and they both burst out laughing once more.

-0-0-0-

"So I was thinking about the drones while I was watching TV the other day and I got an idea about what Doc could be"

"While watching TV?" Jemma raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Okay I might have been rewatching Snow White ..." He answered and she chuckled. "What? It's a classic. They got several oscars for it ..." He grumbled.

"Oh nothing wrong with that Fitz ... I think it's adorable that you still watch Disney movies at 26 !" She cooed and he glared at her, which made her giggle and as hard as he tried to keep glaring, he couldn't completely suppress a small smile.

"Moving on ... so I was watching Snow White and I got to thinking how Doc was kind of the unofficial boss of the group so I thought that Doc could be ..."

"Oh Fitz, I can't be the fifth drone, I'm a real person ..." She grinned.

"Hilarious"

"I know"

"And if anyone's the boss, it should be me, I started this project!"

"Oh really?" She mock-glared at him and he looked down. He knew the few assistants he was technically the boss of didn't like him much because of his bad temper and his tendency to expect them to know what to do without him asking for it. He really didn't want this kind of relationship with Jemma even though she did almost always knew what he meant before he had to say it.

"Fine, how about we remain equal in this partnership?"

"Yeah, much better!" She said with a soft smile.

"Now can I finish telling you about my idea without you interrupting?"

"Of course boss ..."

"Jemma ..." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry ... please continue" She said, hiding her grin and supporting her chin on her hands to look up at him.

"So since Doc is the boss, I thought this drone could be like a master drone able to gather data from all the other drones through a really fast wi-fi connection and be able to do a 3D render of the whole room as well as make the connections between the different types of data before we even retrieve them. That could save a lot of time and it wouldn't even be that difficult to make, mostly software actually. So yeah ... what do you think?"

"That's ... yeah that's really good Fitz. It's really smart and it would be really useful ... and it would make complete sense with Doc as well!" She added with a big smile.

"Yeah yeah that's what I thought." He answered with an equally big smile.

"So which one are you going to build next? Not Doc I suppose, It would make sense to build him last." She said and he couldn't help noticing that, even if she smiled teasingly when he mentioned it earlier, she actually switched to "he" when talking about one of the dwarves.

"I was thinking Bashful"

"Which one is Bashful already?"

"The one who records a very wide range of sound and frequencies"

"Right ... so why is he called Bashful already?" She asked, scrunching up her nose in slight confusion.

"Well he's bashful so I guess he doesn't talk much ... which means he's probably a good listener so ..." Fitz said as he woke up his computer screen he displayed the plans and 3D drawings for said dwarf.

"Aww that's really sweet!" Jemma answered with a really soft smile and he rolled his eyes at her. He was mildly annoyed that she kept calling him sweet and adorable because it wasn't really helping his already thin male ego. But in the mean time he kind of liked it. The fondness with which she was always looking at him was something he hadn't really felt in a long time. Aida never looked at him like that, it was only something his mother and sometimes his friend Daisy used to do and he hoped he hadn't lost that.

"So ..." She started with a slightly shy tone. "There's no element of biochemistry in this one so I guess you won't need my help much more but I-I'll be glad to give you suggestions or my opinion on anything about the next dwarves or anything else ..."

"Right ... so say I need your opinion on the next Doctor Who episode?"

"What?!" She answered, bringing both her hands to her chest in exaggerated shock. "Do you mean we'd stop using flimsy work related excuses to see each other and actually plan on doing something fun together?" She asked and they smiled softly at each other.

"I thought we were having fun working on the Dwarves ..." He added with a small teasing grin.

"Fiiiitz you know what I mean ..."

"Yeah I know Jemma ..."

"And it was really sweet of you to start by building Sneezy when you had three other fully designed before ..."

"Oh no that's the least I could do after everything you did to help me and I wanted to anyway ... I mean this project would still only be a few drawings and plans if it wasn't for you. You reminded me how much I love engineering and science and -whatever you say- I'll always owe you for that"

He would have been a little embarrassed by the sudden surge of emotions in his voice if Jemma didn't squeeze his hand after that and looked at him with that fond smile again.

"Oh Fitz ..." She said and thankfully, she didn't wait too long to start talking again. If she hadn't, he knew he probably would have started blushing again.

"So we already have Sneezy, plans for bashful, happy, sleepy and now a good idea for Doc but what about Dopey and Grumpy?" She asked with a small smile and he wasn't completely sure if she was honestly curious or if she was teasing. So he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Well I don't think there'll be a Dopey, I don't know what could be the use of a stupid dwarf! I mean, what would he even do? Just fly around aimlessly and crash against the walls? Unless ... he could be used as some kind of distraction ..." Fitz started, planning on dismissing the notion of having a dopey drone but realizing that he might actually be on to something. He turned around on his chair to grab his notebook and a pen and started scribbling his idea. His mind was so occupied by this exciting new prospect that it took him a full minute to realize Jemma was looking at him with an expression that was half amused half expectant.

"Oh ... sorry" He said with a sheepish little smile, and put his pen down to turn back towards her. "I'll work on that later ..."

"Oh no that's alright. I like to see the cogs turn inside your brain." She said with a soft smile.

"Oh ... See that's why I like working with you so much. Even the most ridiculous idea can turn into something interesting when it comes from a conversation with you!" He said enthusiastically and she bowed her head down blushing. He wasn't used to giving compliments, especially when it came to intellectual matters but apparently she wasn't used to receiving them, which was quite surprising considering how smart she was.

"And what about Grumpy?" She asked, looking up again with a small grin.

"I really can't see the use of a grumpy drone but I'm open to suggestions"

Her grin turned a lot bigger before she answered.

"Maybe you don't need a grumpy drone because you would be Grumpy?"

"Well first of all, that doesn't make any sense because the idea is to sell the prototype so I wouldn't be the only one using it. And then you're calling me a dwarf AND using the old grumpy Scot cliché against me? Really Jemma? I'm so disappointed in you ..." He grumbled, rolling his eyes to the back of his head.

"Kind of proving my point though ..." She answered, now grinning even wider.

"Oh really?" He started but was cut short by his stomach letting out the loudest growl and she burst out laughing.

"Come on Grumpy, time to eat. Wanna go out and get something at that Italian place? My treat!" She said after a minute of him glaring at her in his best grumpy impression.

"Hum actually hum ..." He started, looking a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry I'm supposed to be leaving soon, I'm seeing some of my friends tonight. Daisy, she-she called a few days ago, I don't know why really, and we talked quite a lot and it was nice so she proposed that we meet up at the bar where we always used to go ..." He finished with a small smile.

Fitz had been so surprised to see Daisy's name appear on his phone when it rang a few days ago that for a moment he panicked, pretty sure that something bad had happened to one of his other friends. He really thought that would be the only reason for her calling him considering what happened the last time he saw her. They'd been at the bar for less than an hour, Aida was supposed to join them but she called at the last minute, asking him to come to her place instead. And he did just that, leaving his friends without much of an explanation. Not that they needed one, Aida just didn't like them and they knew it. From the way his friends all looked at him, they were clearly more than a bit mad at him because it was not the first it happened since Fitz started dating Aida. After that, he didn't hear from any of them and he felt too guilty to call them himself. And it was more than two months ago.

So he was sure that he would have to be the one to call and hope they'd forgive him but he hadn't find the courage yet. So when Daisy called and said she just wanted to know how he was and catch up on what was new in his life and was just generally really sweet, he was shocked. Not that she usually wasn't but she could be quite scary when she was mad. But she had apparently learned of his break up by a friend of a friend who knew Aida but however believable that was, he was glad that she'd made the first step towards him. Oh he would have to go through a lot of teasing and snarky remarks to be fully forgiven but at least he had her and hopefully his other friends back in his life.

"Oh that's great, I'm really happy for you Fitz!" Jemma said with a soft smile and a reassuring hand on his shoulder and he relaxed a bit. "Then I'll just pack my things and leave you to it then." She added as she stood up and started gathering her tablet, notebooks and other things splayed on his desk.

She still had that soft smile on her face but he could also see a hint of disappointment and that's what finally made him say what he'd meant to say since she arrived earlier that day.

"Wait! You can come with me if you want" He said, cringing at the way it sounded like he was pitying her.

"Oh no you'll be with your friends I don't want to ..." She started but he cut her off.

"Yes exactly ... I mean yeah I'll be with my friends and that's exactly why you should come. Because you are my friend as well you know. Do you understand what I'm ...?"

"Yes Fitz!" She cut him off with a pleased little smile.

"So please, come with me? I've actually been meaning to ask you to come along and Daisy wanted to meet you but I-I didn't know if you'd want to spend some time outside of work with-with ..."

"...my best friend?"

"Yeah?" He said with a big boyish smile on his face and he didn't even bother to hide his blush because he was just too happy. It's been so long since he felt that heartwarming feeling of knowing that the person that was becoming such an important part of his life felt the same about him.

"Yeah ..." She simply said and they smiled at each other for a moment before she spoke again. "Shall we go then?"

-0-0-0-

As they walked out of his building to walk towards the bar, the one where they first met, Jemma playfully laced her arm through his and looked at him with a little glint in his eyes.

"So how come Daisy said she wanted to meet me?" She asked.

"Might have mentioned you once or twice during the conversation ..."

"Oh really?" She said with a disbelieving tone when she saw how he refused to meet her eyes.

"Okay maybe a bit more than that ... you're the only good and interesting thing that happened in my life lately so what was I supposed to tell her?"

"Oh Fiiiitz"

"Yeah she said that too!" He answered, chuckling. For some reason, he seemed to inspire the same reactions people usually had with puppies. Especially to women. He didn't really know if it was a good or a bad thing though. "Anyway, she loves you already and I think you'll like her too. Just try not be offended if she tries a very bad english accent, she just watches way too much Downtown Abbey and she actually means it as a compliment!" He added and Jemma giggled.

"Oh and also don't mention the fact that you're my best friend as well because she can get really jealous!" He said, ducking his head down again. He wanted her to know that and Jemma had told him he was hers so he shouldn't be shy about it but he just couldn't help it. Fortunately, Jemma just smiled warmly to acknowledge his declaration and quickly changed the subject to avoid embarrassing him.

"I won't ... but I will keep it in mind! Now tell me about Daisy and your other friends. I need to be prepared!"

That was such a Jemma thing to do. Even when it was for an informal gathering of friends at a bar, she had to come prepared. So as they walked, he told her about his friends and as was the case more often than not when he was with Jemma, he had a smile on his face the whole time.

-0-0-0-

"As I live and breathe, is that the great Leopold Fitz himself?"

It was Friday night and despite the dim light and rather crowded space, Daisy, Mack and his other friends saw Fitz pretty much the moment he entered the bar with Jemma. If at first he was a bit embarrassed by the attention Mack's booming voice brought to him, in the end he was mostly grateful for his teasing tone that didn't seem to bare any resentment concerning how things went the last time he saw them all. He knew he'd be in for a lot of teasing for a while but he could live with that as long as his friends were back in his life and not too mad at him.

"Hi guys!" Fitz said with a tentative smile once he made it to the table and was pleased to see that two seats had been saved for him and Jemma.

"Leopold" They all answered in the same serious voice and he rolled his eyes as they all burst out laughing. He felt a little bit betrayed when even Jemma joined in even though she was nice enough to hide her laugh behind her hand.

"So ..." He raised his voice a bit, hoping they'd stop laughing so he could introduce Jemma. "Everyone, this is Jemma, Jemma this is Daisy, the giant over there is Mack" he said, pointing to his rather impressive friend who gave her a nod and a soft smile. "The slightly shorter one is Trip and the English one is ..."

"Lance Hunter!" She cut him off with an amused smile. "it really is quite a small world after all!" She added and the man looked at her in confusion, clearly not recognizing her.

"Hum-do you know each other?" Fitz asked, just as confused as Hunter and looking back and forth between the two of them. "Did you hum- you know did you ...?" Fitz added, hesitating between surprise and a bit of disgust. As much as he liked his friend Hunter, the idea of genius, pretty, delicate Jemma Simmons could have hooked up with someone like Hunter was more than a little disconcerting.

"Urgh no Fitz!" She cried out, earning herself a few chuckles and snorts from Fitz's friends.

"Hey! Rude." Hunter said, his voice a bit higher than usual. "I don't even know when ..."

"Does the name of Bobbi Morse rings a bell?" She asked and there were a few whistles. Their tumultuous relationship was no secret within their little group of friends and if Jemma knew her, this could become quite interesting. "Well I would hope so at least. Cause the last time, well only time we met in this very bar, and on the night we also met Fitz" She said turning to Fitz for a second before turning back to Hunter who seemed to have the beginning of a flicker of recognition on his face. "... you were quite busy sucking face with her. Which probably explains why you don't remember mine!" She finished and Fitz burst out laughing with everyone else. As she caught his eyes for a moment, he gave her a big grin and a thumbs up. He was strangely proud of her. There was no better way to be quickly accepted in this group than to make fun of Hunter and Jemma did it perfectly.

As Hunter started to connect the dots, Fitz pulled one of the vacant chairs for Jemma and then sat on the other between her and Daisy who gave his arm a little squeeze and smiled at him softly. His relationship with Daisy had always been a bit different than with his other friends. Even though she was two years younger than he was, she'd always felt like a big sister. Since they met when he started working at Scitech a few years ago, she'd taken him under her wing and kind of took care of him. Both having had a complicated childhood, they'd always craved for any kind of bond that resembled a family. And with that smile and that simple gesture, it felt like everything was gonna be okay. With Jemma in his life and all his older friends back, he finally felt like things were moving in the right direction.

"Oh yeah, I remember you now!" Hunter finally cried out and Jemma chuckled. "You're that English gal who works with Bob, the genius one. Bob never shuts up about you. If I didn't know better, I'd say she's in love with you actually!" He finished with a grin and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"Well she is a great biochemist as I really like her as well, except when we go to the bar and she ignores me to snog her boyfriend that is!" Jemma answered with a small grin.

"Hey! We weren't snogging!"

"Sure that was a very innocent kiss and that's why you mysteriously disappeared into a dark corner of the bar after ten minutes!"

He looked like he was about to say something back but changed his mind and let out a big sigh.

"Okay I guess we started on the wrong foot. How about I go get you and Fitz a drink and we pretend like we're meeting for the first time?" He said with his most charming smile and Fitz couldn't help a small grin from tugging at his lips. Hunter could be a bit stupid whenever Bobbi was concerned but he was actually a really good person and he hoped Jemma would be able to see that.

"Sure!" She answered with a small but genuine smile. "I'll have a pint. Fitz?" She asked turning to Fitz, her smile turning a bit mischievous.

"Yeah same for me. Thanks Hunter!" He said with a big boyish smile.

"Yeah yeah yeah ... be right back"

"Jemma Simmons, I knew I'd like you!" Daisy said with a huge grin once Hunter had left the table.

"Because I made Hunter buy us beer?" Jemma answered with an amused smile.

"Yeah well that too, but you know, making fun of Hunter is our favorite activity when we're all together, it's like you're already part of the group!" Daisy said and Jemma let out a small laugh.

Fitz was so proud and happy that Jemma was so easily accepted by the group, well Daisy at least, the rest would follow inevitably anyway, that he almost missed a key information here. Almost.

"Hu wait Daisy, how do you know her full name is Jemma Simmons? I didn't tell you that!" Fitz asked, turning a suspicious eyebrow towards his friend.

"I'm pretty sure you did. How would I know anyway?" She answered.

"No I didn't!"

"No he didn't!" Both Mack and Trip said at the same time and Daisy glared at them before turning back to Fitz who was almost positive he saw a quick exchange of look between Jemma and Daisy.

"Well you must have told me on the phone then. It was mostly Jemma this and Jemma that for two hours anyway!"

"No it wasn't" Well it was pretty much the truth but he didn't want Jemma to think he was obsessed or that he didn't have anything else happening in his life at the moment. Even if he kind of already told her that only an hour ago. "and I never told you her family name, you remember I have an almost perfect memory right?" He said, raising a defiant eyebrow.

"Yeah yeah I know genius boy" She answered rolling her eyes and sending yet another look towards Jemma who looked more and more uncomfortable.

"So what Daisy? Oh my god ... Did you do background search on her again? I told you it's a nice intention but it's illegal and it can be kind of ..." He started but he was, surprisingly, cut off by Jemma.

"Fitz stop, it's not Daisy, it's me!"

"What? What do you mean?" He asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Please please please don't be mad but ... you remember the other day when you were so sad and you told how much you missed your friends?"

"Yeah ..."

"Well I thought I could do something to help you so I might have looked up Daisy's contact in your phone while you were out of the room and sent her an email to tell her how bad you felt about the whole situation ..." She said, her voice trailing off at the end and almost literally shrinking on her chair as she exchanged worried looks with Daisy and waited for Fitz's reaction.

They visibly overestimated his bad Scottish temper if he thought he'd be really mad at her for trying to help patch things up with his friends. But they did conspire behind his back so he decided to let them sweat for just a moment. For once, Mack and Trip were more perceptive because they had a small grin tugging at their lips, visibly not all convinced by Fitz's glare.

"Fitz?" Daisy asked tentatively after a moment of silence.

"Well you might be an elf after all ..." He said, turning towards Jemma and not able to hide the small grin making its way on his face.

"Hu ... what?"

"You know going about people's houses and messing around with their properties ..." He said and if he'd been mad at her before, he surely couldn't be anymore with they way she was adorably flustered and bowed her head down in embarrassment.

"So you're not ...mad at me?"

"For what? making me see my friends again?" He answered, his grin getting wider and the two young women finally relaxed "... I mean I'm gonna have to tolerate Daisy again but apart from that I'm kind of happy ..."

"Hey! I still haven't decided if I'm going to take you back Leopold!" Daisy said, swatting his arm and they all laughed.

"And what if I buy the next round and even the one after that?" He asked, sliding both his arms around Jemma and Daisy's shoulders with his most charming smile. He knew he didn't have the physical presence of Mack or Trip's natural charm and self confidence but his juvenile appearance made him look innocent and he could easily get away with being tactile with women without ever looking suspicious. And since he was in the presence of his two favorite ladies, he would be damned if he didn't take advantage of it.

"I'd say your chances are getting higher!" Daisy answered as she laced her arm around his waist to give him a little side hug. Fitz laid a small peck on her cheek before turning around towards Jemma who was looking at him with an expectant look in her pretty hazel eyes.

"Thank you Jemma" He simply said and laid a tender kiss on her temple, lingering just a moment longer to appreciate the nice lavender smell of her shampoo.

"Look at him now ... since when is Fitz so smooth with the ladies?" Trip asked Mack with a big teasing grin on his face.

"Who knows? ... maybe Turbo finally reached puberty"

"Oh shut up you pricks!" He grumbled and they both grinned even wider. It was nice to have their old dynamic back.

When Fitz turned back to Daisy, there was a little glint in her eyes as they were flitting between Jemma and him and he rolled his eyes. Of course, he could kiss her cheek and hug her and do anything else, as long as it was with her, she would always see it as a perfectly innocent and friendly gesture. If he did it with any other woman, it had to have a secret meaning. Oh boy, he would never hear the end of it!

-0-0-0-

After Jemma and Fitz's noticeable entrance, the conversation went back on its track. Fitz looked very at ease and happy with his friends, just like he had started being with her after a time and it was so nice to witness. She did get along quite well with them as well, even with Hunter who was so glad to have another "British ally" in the group. But even though she really liked everyone, Daisy was the one Jemma liked the most from the beginning. They didn't seem to have so much in common but the young woman has such a fun and easy going personality that it was hard not to be charmed.

At some point, the boys decided to play pool and Jemma decided to stay at the table with Daisy. Not that she didn't like pool and she was always up for a little competition, but Daisy didn't want to play and Jemma thought it would be nice not to leave her alone. Also, she saw it as an opportunity to satisfy her curiosity about Fitz a bit.

"So there's something I've been meaning to ask ... I mean I could ask Fitz about but I-I don't want to bring back bad memories and I thought maybe you could ..."

"Ask away Jemma, I'll see if I can help!" Daisy cut her off with an easy smile.

"Well it's about Aida. How did they- I mean I only saw her once for a second and I know what Fitz told me but they look so ..."

"You wonder how these two ended up together?" Daisy cut off again.

"Yes! Exactly! Cause she looks so cold and sophisticated and Fitz is like a ..."

"teddybear!"

"... cute puppy!" The women both finished at the same time and chuckled and what were two quite simplistic but very accurate depictions of Fitz's character and appearance.

"I know right?" Daisy said after a moment. "Well overtime we all have developed several theories. I for one think she's a vampire and having no heart, she chose Fitz to feed off his own big big heart!"

"How romantic!" Jemma teased with a big smile.

"Also vampires are known to have psychic abilities so that would explain why he got so stupid when he was with her!" Daisy added, rolling her eyes good-naturedly and Jemma let out a small laugh. It was nice to see that Daisy didn't feel any real resentment and Fitz would probably be fine with just a lot of teasing. And he probably deserved it anyway.

"Another popular theory amongst us has been developed by Mack who watched way too much Terminator growing up. He thinks Aida is actually a robot who decided to learn about love and who could be better for that than our little teddybear?"

"Interesting!"

"I mean I'm not a big fan of that theory but you have to admit it makes sense ..."

"Well actually ... the technology already exists so with a lot of funding and a really really good engineer, say someone like Fitz ... it would theoretically be possible to build such a lifelike android ..." Jemma said with a smirk.

"Calm down Jemma, I wouldn't go as far as calling Aida lifelike ..." Daisy answered and they both chuckled. "Anyway don't tell that to Mack or we'll never hear the end of it."

"Anyway I noticed that in both those scenarios, you all seem to have a very high opinion of Fitz's heart ..." Jemma added after a minute with a fond smile.

"That's true, he can be dumb for such a genius sometimes and he's kind of shy and grumpy but I've never met someone with a bigger heart. He loves without restriction and would do anything for the people he loves. And he always manages to see the best in everyone. I guess that's what got him in trouble with Aida ..."

Jemma couldn't help nodding along because even if she didn't know him very long, Daisy's sentence felt perfectly right to her ears. Once she got past his shyness, she was able to see how sweet and gentle he could be. At first, he kept repeating that he had to make up for the way she took care of him that night but after a time, she realized that he just genuinely liked doing nice things for her. Sometimes she wondered if he was just too good to be true, but then he'd welcome her in his apartment with a cake he'd made himself and a big happy smile and she'd have to admit that he was the real deal.

"Thank you by the way ... For taking care of him when he was alone, he's like my baby brother and it didn't feel quite right not seeing him for so long ... And he does really think very highly of you, you know ..."

"Oh that's nothing ... that's-thank you but really I'm glad I did ... my life in New York was a bit lonely before I met him." Jemma said, blushing a bit and Skye looked at her with an amused little glint in her eyes that made her feel just a little bit uncomfortable, like she knew something Jemma didn't so she tried to change the subject.

"So how did they even meet? Aida and Fitz I mean."

"She was a consultant at SciTech for a time. They worked together on a project, she'd just been through a bad break-up and Fitz was a rebound. I think he appealed to her because he was everything she's not and different from everyone she ever dated. Once I heard her say that the way he was so honest and true and so completely in love was "refreshing""

"Urgh ..."

"Yeah I know right ... Anyway, he was completely in love and she just spent six months trying to turn him into every asshole she ever dated and he just kept finding excuses for her. It was just so unnerving and painful to watch. I knew, it would end badly but however hard it was on him, I still think it's a good thing they broke up. No one should try to change my Fitz but he just wouldn't listen to us when we tried to warn him ..." Skye said with a sad look in her eyes.

"Of course yeah ... It's hard to listen to reason when you're in love ..." Jemma answered with an understanding smile.

"Oh yeah I know. I don't really blame him. I know he's a romantic, sometimes to the point where it's ridiculous but it's part of his charm I guess!"

"Yeah I kind of noticed that ..."

"Oh really? And when did that happen?" Skye answered, a big grin on her face and Jemma realized what the fact that she noticed his romantic side could imply and she tried to explain herself immediately but she was interrupted by Fitz.

"Hey ladies! Need another drink? You're not talking about me, are you?" He asked, looking especially pleased with himself after destroying the boys at pool. Which made sense since the game relied mostly on precision and geometry.

"Urgh Fitz please. We have more interesting things to talk about than you!" Daisy answered immediately in fake annoyance and Jemma couldn't help giggling. They did have a brother/sister relationship that was quite sweet and entertaining to watch.

"But I do have plenty of very embarrassing photos of you to show Jemma. Like those pictures from your 23rd birthday where you looked like it was your 16th ..." Skye grinned.

"Oh no no no no, I already told you those need to be destroyed!" He said, his eyes widening and now Jemma really wanted to see them.

"Well then we're gonna need more drinks ..."

"Sure. Of course. My pleasure actually!" He said as he came between them to grab their empty glasses and laid a quick peck on Skye's left cheek and Jemma's right one. Skye rolled her eyes at his antics but when she looked at Jemma, she could see the fondness she felt reflected in her eyes. She didn't know if it was the ego boost given by his victory at pool or the slight buzz of alcohol but she liked that new cheeky and dare she say a bit flirty Fitz.

Once Fitz was out of sight, Skye turned to Jemma with a mischievous smile and took out her phone.

"Now let me show you those pictures!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update this one ! The chapter was supposed to be much shorter but I just kept adding things and well, here it is now !  
> There should be three more chapters to come after this one and hopefully they'll be finished faster !

"Stop fidgeting you're making me nervous!" Jemma whispered, putting her hand on Fitz's knee to stop it from bouncing. "Everything's going to be fine, they're going to love you." She added in a softer tone when she saw even more nervousness in his eyes.

"Easy for you to say" He mumbled. "You already work here and they already love you, you're like their favorite child or something ..." He added and she rolled her eyes fondly.

"Oh come on Fitz, they wouldn't have accepted to see you if they weren't interested. Do you know how many people they saw for this position?" She asked and he looked up at her, shaking his head negatively.

"Well me neither ... at least not exactly but I know it was very few." She answered and he chuckled, his face relaxing a bit. "And they were very impressed by that video of your drone and it was just Sneezy back then!" She added and he gave her a weak smile. The nervousness was still there but he did seem to relax a bit. "You'll be great, I promise."

"Yeah?"

"Yes Fitz" She answered and he put his hand over the one she didn't realize was still on his knee and gently squeezed it. The sweet gesture made her smile a little wider. They were more and more at ease with the physical contact and she had to admit she was starting to like it a lot. Maybe more than she should so she tried not to think about it too hard.

And as it was, she didn't really have the time for it anyway because that's when the woman at the reception interrupted their little exchange.

"Dr Fitz, Dr Simmons, Mr Stark is ready to see you." The woman said with a warm smile as she opened the door for them. Jemma gave Fitz one last hand squeeze before getting up and walking in before him. She knew it would be just a little bit less intimidating for Fitz if she came in first and made the introductions. Which is why she didn't see Fitz's eyebrows raise to his hairline when he heard the very distinctive voice of Tony Stark say: "Hey Jemma! How's my favorite biochemist doing today?"

-0-0-0-

After the very good work they did on Sneezy, Fitz managed to finish Bashful and Happy in record time with the help or sometime just the encouragement of Jemma. But two months later, just as he was finishing Dopey, Jemma came to his apartment one night looking even more perky and enthusiastic than usual. Stark industries, where she was head of the biochemistry division, had an opening for head of the engineering division. She knew that Fitz was a little underwhelmed by his own job lately, where he felt unappreciated, and thought this could be an amazing opportunity for him.

Of course, Fitz had felt exactly the same and after a whole evening of her convincing him that his profile could totally fit the job description and that he didn't risk anything by trying anyway, they both started working on his application. They also decided to include a small file about Fitz's drones. Jemma knew it was exactly the kind of projects that Stark wanted to develop lately and thought it could give Fitz a big advantage.

Once again, she was right because only a week later, Fitz received an email from Stark industries. Not only were they asking Fitz to come for an interview with Tony Stark himself but they loved the dwarfs idea so much that they were inclined to fund him independently from his job. Which meant that if things went well, not only he could get his dream job and make a lot of money but he would also be able to keep developing his drones as he liked but with the assurance that Stark would buy them and take care of production on a bigger scale.

As he walked into the office, Fitz thought it was probably the most scared, nervous and excited he had ever been at the same time.

-0-0-0-

When they walked out of the office almost two hours later, Jemma thought they did quite a good job at remaining calm and professional. But that didn't last very long because the moment the elevator doors closed on them, they both erupted in cheers. Fitz didn't hesitate to hug her tight, even lifting her from the ground a bit in his excitement.

"Fiiiitz" She squeaked in vague protestation with a wide smile on her face and that only made him lift her higher for a second before putting her back on the ground and pressing a small kiss to her hairline without ever loosing that big smile lighting up his face.

God she liked it when he was like that, happy and careless and affectionate.

"Fitz, you were incredible in there! I'm so proud of you!" She cried out and his smile turned a little bashful.

"Really?"

"Of course Fitz, they loved you! You know it's only a matter of time before they call you back and send you a contract!"

"Yeah I think it went rather well ..." He added with a soft smile and she rolled her eyes fondly.

"Rather well? That's quite the understatement Fitz ..." She said and he chuckled. "And don't you go all shy on me, I've seen you in there, all cocky and confident, acting like a real showman, calling Tony Stark Tony ..."

"Hey you call him Tony too, which I found a little ..."

"Please, any woman who's moderately attractive can call him Tony, you on the other hand ..."

"moderately attractive please ..." He cut her off and she turned to him in confusion.

"And I'm the one understating the obvious?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a tiny smirk, which made her blush prettily as she looked down with a small smile.

What was happening to him today? First his amazing presentation that wouldn't be out of place at Stark Expo, then his adorably affectionate mood and now the flirting? Didn't he realize how attractive that made him? Didn't he realize that you shouldn't do that to a woman that's been single for more than a year now?

Of course, he chose this moment to grab her hand as a way to attract her attention.

"Jemma, were you listening to me?" He asked with a slightly confused expression and she realized that she actually tuned out for almost a minute and that he was now waiting for her to get out of the elevator since they'd reached the ground floor. Apparently, he'd also been talking to her.

"Oh sorry no, I got lost in thoughts for a moment. What did you say?" She asked and he chuckled.

"I said we should go celebrate!" He answered with a boyish grin.

"Already?"

"Well you're the one who said it was only a matter of time, right?"

"Right ... fine then what do you have in mind?" She asked with an amused grin.

"I know just the place!" He cried out enthusiastically. "Come on it's not far from here! My treat!" He said as he grabbed her hand again to lead her and she tried her best to ignore the flutter in her chest at the sensation of his fingers perfectly intertwining with hers.

-0-0-0-

"Oh wow Fitz this place looks awfully fancy!" Jemma cried out as they stopped just before the impressive front door of what seemed to be a really stylish and really expensive restaurant.

"Oh yeah I guess it's kind of nice ... walked past it a few times recently and I've been dying to try it!" He said, smiling widely. Of course he would be this excited about food.

"No really look how fancy it is, I don't think I'm dressed up enough for that kind of place, they're ..."

"Please if anything, you're too fancy for this place" He cut her off and she raised an amused eyebrow, which he didn't seem to see because he barreled on with his awkward but quite endearing way of complimenting her. "Look at you all smart and boss lady like, you're probably even overdressed for this place, they might even ask to un ... dress?" He finished lamely and she couldn't help laughing. "Wait no that came out wrong, I don't think they'd ask you that, at least I hope so ... what I meant to say was ..."

"That's fine Fitz, I get it" She cut him off, resting her hand lightly on his chest to stop his rambling. "That was strangely sweet ..." She added and he chuckled.

"So let's assume I really am properly dressed for this place, it still looks terribly expensive and I don't want you ..."

"Jemma please!" He cut her off, his voice at the same time soft and intense and that was enough to stop her from talking. "I'm happier than I've been in a really long time, I've just had a very successful interview for my dream job and I just wanna treat the best friend responsible for all that to a nice dinner. So please Jemma ... let me do that ..."

"Okay ..." She answered simply, trying not to let him notice the slight flutter he'd woken up in her chest again, and she rolled her eyes fondly when he opened the door for her with a satisfied smile.

"And if I do get the job and the funding, I'm gonna get filthy rich!" He whispered, his lips almost grazing her ear and she chuckled nervously.

"Oh that's right ... then I'm having the lobster!" She grinned.

"It's an Italian restaurant Jemma ..."

"Well then I'm having the lobster pizza" She answered matter of factly and when she turned around to look at him, they both burst out laughing, earning them a glare from the maitre d' and a few curious glances from other patrons waiting for a table.

-0-0-0-

"I can't believe they actually have a lobster pizza and you didn't even take it" Fitz said as he took another bite of his antipasti.

"I told you it was a joke and I really don't like sea food anyway. What I can't believe is that you ordered a whole bottle of champagne without even looking at the price!" She answered as she took a sip of her own glass, letting out a small sigh of contentment. It was a really good champagne.

"I wanted to know what it feels like to be rich!" He answered with a wide boyish smile. "And it's not a real celebration without champagne and I can see how much like it so ... it's worth it" He added, his smile turning a little softer and she hoped he would blame the pink tint of her cheeks to the quite probably extravagantly expensive beverage he'd treated her with.

After the slight flirting and hand holding and sweet compliments there's been earlier, Fitz's attitude had continued to be quite confusing since they'd entered the restaurant. He did nothing really weird per se, he held her chair out for her to sit when they arrived at their table, which she always thought was kind of ridiculously old fashioned but somehow strangely charming when it came from Fitz. He also insisted that they take a full bottle of champagne instead of a single glass each when she said how much she liked it. So nothing weird really, just a man trying to be chivalrous and generous to impress the woman he's on a date with.

Except, of course, that they weren't on a date. And maybe she was imagining all that, maybe he was just being his usual adorable self and she was just reading too much into it. And maybe she saw flirtation where there was only friendship because she kind of liked the idea. And if this was how it was to be on a date with Leo Fitz, she thought she would definitely say yes given the opportunity. And that was definitely a confusing thought.

Fortunately, she was interrupted in her reflections by the sound of the text alert on her cellphone. She took it out quickly after an apologetic glance to the persons siting the closest to them. Apparently not everyone found her "exterminate" sound as funny as Fitz did. The text was from Daisy asking her if she should start organizing the party for Fitz's job or not.

"I can't believe she's texting you about it and not me!" Fitz grumbled once Jemma told him about it.

"For her defense, you always take forever to answer text messages!" Jemma teased and he rolled his eyes even though he knew perfectly well that she was right.

"Still ... you two spend so much time together ... and when I'm with you it's always Daisy this and Daisy that ... and when I'm with her she never shuts up about you ..." He answered, his accent and his mumbling making him almost impossible to understand and Jemma couldn't help laughing a bit.

"Awww Fitz are you jealous?" She cooed.

"No ..."

"Awww you are! That's adorable ... ridiculous but adorable!" She said, grinning fondly.

"Hey!" He cried out, moving back in his chair, visibly annoyed.

"Oh come on Fitz, you know you're my best friend and that's not going to change any time soon and Daisy, I know she teases you a lot but you're her family and no one will ever replace that." Jemma said, placing her hand on his and his face softened.

"Yeah I know ... as long as she doesn't still from my Jemma time, it's fine. And I'm actually glad that you get along so well with my friends." He answered, turning his hand around so his palm was against hers. The contact was so warm and nice that it made her skin tingle deliciously and she couldn't stop herself from sighing contentedly. Hopefully he'd take that as a simple sign of appreciation after his previous sentence. "Of course, I wasn't really worried, you're so different from Aida and I really couldn't see a reason for anyone to dislike you especially since ... what?"

That's when Jemma realized that the heart melting fondness she was feeling at the moment was probably showing more than she thought because he looked confused. Didn't he realize how sweet he could be when he said things like that? And did he just suggest that introducing her to his friends was like introducing his girlfriend or did she just read too much into once more?

Yes that was probably it. Maybe she should ask Fitz if he ever found the monastery he was looking for the day they met because she'd been single for so long that she wasn't able to recognize friendship from flirting. Because Fitz wasn't there yet, he was still heartbroken about Aida and he was just being very friendly. He did hold some of the blame though because when did his Scottish accent stopped being funny and kind of charming and became downright attractive?

"Nothing Fitz ... you're just being sweet is all and really I don't think I've ever spent so much time with anyone else in so little time" She said smiling softly.

"And aren't you getting a little tired of me?" He asked, grinning.

She knew he was fishing for compliment and she would have said yes just to tease him if there wasn't also a hint of insecurity behind his question. After all these months, she could still sense that sometimes he still wondered if she really cared for him as much as she looked to be.

"Would I get you an interview at the company I work for if I did?" She answered with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess not ..." He said, smiling bashfully.

They remained silent for a moment, simply enjoying their delicious but incredibly expensive meal, until Fitz started chuckling.

"What is it?" Jemma asked with an amused smile. "Your food doesn't look particularly funny."

"No it's just- I was thinking about the last interview I went to, the one that got me the job at SciTech. That's actually how I met Daisy!" He said, smiling fondly at what was visibly a nice memory.

"Oh?" She simply answered with an encouraging smile.

"Well believe it or not, it was a few years ago and back then, I wasn't the confident man I am today ..." he started and she grinned. "I was so nervous that I got there really early and I was waiting outside the office of Phil Coulson, the HR guy, and you've seen how I was earlier? Well I was ten times worse!" He added and she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You must have made the whole building shake with your bouncy legs!" Jemma teased and it made him grin.

"Actually I think that's exactly what Daisy said when she came to sit beside me!"

She could only imagine the Fitz from the photos Daisy had shown her. With his untamed curls, perfectly shaved face and really slight frame that made him look even younger than he was back then, he must have looked so cute and vulnerable, she probably couldn't have resisted going to him to try and help him either. Not that she would have been as confident as Daisy was, even a few years ago.

"Anyway, she introduced herself and asked why I was here and honestly I don't how she didn't give up on me, i was barely able to say a few words at first. But then she taught me some kind of breathing exercise, always thought it was rubbish but it did help a bit. But mostly, she told all kinds of funny or embarrassing things about the guy I had an interview with, like the fact that he liked to sing Britney Spears at karaoke at the annual Christmas party." Fitz finished with a huge grin and Jemma chuckled.

"Oh my god and do you think it was all true?" Jemma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well some of it I had the opportunity to verify myself, others I'm pretty sure Daisy made up but you can't really be sure with him. Turned out he was actually a really nice guy and not so scary but full of secrets!" He answered and they both chuckled.

Fitz kept on telling her the crazy stories that Daisy told him about his future boss and she had to admit that either her new friend had even more imagination than she thought or this Phil Coulson really was an extremely interesting character. After that, he told her how Daisy took him under her wing and had lunch with him every day until he started being more at ease with everyone else and comfortable enough to be himself without the fear of being judged.

"Wow Fitz that's- that's pretty amazing ..." Jemma said with a fond smile. In the few months since she met Daisy, she had the opportunity to notice how generous and kind she could be but she still couldn't help but wonder about one thing. "But did you ever asked yourself ..."

"Why she did it?" He finished for her with a small smile and she nodded.

"Well honestly, at some point I started developing a bit of a crush on her and I thought that maybe she-maybe that's why she did it as well ..." He said blushing and not quite meeting her eyes. "But please don't tell her I said that, she probably knows anyway, it's not like I was very subtle about it, but she doesn't need verbal confirmation, I wouldn't hear the end of it!" He added.

Of course, he knew she'd become close friends with Daisy as well and he was scared she might tell her something. She felt a bit offended that he thought it useful to ask her that. As close as she and Daisy had become, Fitz was her best friend and she would never betray his trust, whatever the subject. She was pretty sure than the slight tightness she felt in her chest she felt after his "confession" was only due to his lack of trust and not at all to a bout of ridiculous jealousy about two people that had as much romantic chemistry as a brother and a sister.

She shook her head to get rid of these confusing thoughts and gave his hand a little swat while rolling her eyes.

"Fitz! I love Daisy but you're my best friend, do you really think you have to ask me to keep your secrets?" She asked and he looked down sheepishly.

"Sorry no, of course no. It's just ... you know how teasing she can be. Anyway that wasn't the reason at all! Now it feels so weird just to think about it ... But I guess she saw me as some kind of lost puppy and since she grew up in the foster care system, she always felt like it was her duty to make sure no one was left behind because we were all a big family ..." He said with the fondest of smile and Jemma almost automatically squeezed his hand, only now realizing that even as they were eating, they both kept one hand on the table really close to each other. Was it how best friends were supposed to act around each other? After all, she'd never had such a close male friend, maybe it wasn't weird to be this tactile.

"And that's what we became I guess, she really is a sister to me. An annoying, pranking, teasing sister but a sister nonetheless. One who once gave me a speech about the meaning of the word "Ohana" and how we were a small broken family. Even managed to make me tear up a bit. And then a year later, we watched Lilo and Stitch together and she spent an hour laughing her ass off when I realized where her touching speech came from ..." He added and Jemma burst out laughing.

After a moment, Fitz shook his hand off her and crossed his arms on his chest with an annoyed look on his face. Of course, that made her laugh even harder.

"Sorry ... I'm sorry Fitz but this is just too good! That's what happens when you're too snob to see anything Disney has done after the sixties!" She said once her laughter had finally calmed down and she was just grinning widely.

"Are you done?" He asked, rolling his eyes but unable to completely hide the small smile that was tucking at the corner of his lips.

"Yes ... Sorry" She answered with a warm smile and he relaxed a bit, letting his smile grow wider. "It's still a sweet story though."

"Yeah ... and four years later, I'm still unable to make friends like a normal people ..." He added and they both shared the same fond smile at the memory of how they met even if he still didn't remember most of it.

"I guess there's something in those big blue puppy eyes of yours that inspires ..."

"Pity?" He asked in a self-deprecative tone.

"No! Compassion and erm ... an irresistible urge to hug you and make all the bad feelings go away ..." She said and he grinned boyishly.

"Okay I guess it could be worse ..."

"But I wouldn't have kept you in my life if you weren't the sweetest, most interesting person I've ever met though ..." She added with a warm smile.

"I guess I can live with that ..." He answered, blushing adorably. "But you can still hug me anytime you want!" He added, grinning mischievously.

"I'll remember that."

-0-0-0-

By the time they made it out of the restaurant after a three courses meal, one bottle of champagne and almost a full bottle of red wine, Jemma was quite pleasantly buzzed, not enough to be sick or badly hungover come morning, but with her head fuzzy enough that she could reasonably accept Fitz's proposal of walking her home.

By the time they started walking, she also felt like her legs were wobbly enough that it was okay for her to hold Fitz's hand to remain steady. Not that it looked he minded in the slightest. And anyway, after three hours of really pleasant discussion, not so discreet hand-holding and even less subtle flirting, she was now pretty sure she wasn't the only one seing this evening as some kind of date and she was definitely liking it.

She couldn't help wondering how their relationship had evolved to this. Of course, there had been a few signs before. She had noticed his attractiveness on several occasions and he'd made a few comments on her appearance, mostly involuntarily and with plenty of blushing, but she never thought it meant anything. And of course they'd become closer every day since they met and it wasn't rare for them to hug or cuddle up together in front of the TV but Fitz was really depressed when they met so she thought he just needed the extra attention and tenderness. And since he was his only friend in the city for some time, it was also nice for her to be on the receiving end of these friendly and tender gestures.

And for a few weeks now, she had tried to convince herself that she was imagining the longing in his big blue eyes and that the slightly more than friendly urges she had towards him were just a result of a very long period of celibacy. But with the alcohol slowing down her brain a bit, she felt like she was also gaining some sort of clarity and she realized that she obviously had a huge crush on her best friend.

"Hey Jem? Are you listening to me?" Fitz said quite loud, which suggested her that she'd been ignoring him. And when has he started calling her Jem?

"Sorry-I-I was lost in thoughts for a moment ..." She answered and she blushed when he grinned widely. Could he possibly know what she'd been thinking about.

"You really are quite drunk!" He teased.

"Am not!" She cried out and her offended tone was not as convincing as she wanted it since it's at this exact moment that she tripped on apparently nothing and would have fallen if Fitz didn't catch her. "Fine I'm a bit tipsy and those heels are just too high ..." She added sheepishly.

"Sure ..." He answered and she hesitated between feeling annoyed by his mocking tone and being pleased that he left his arm around her waist after he caught her.

"So what were you thinking about?" He asked after a moment.

"Oh nothing important ..." She answered and she was glad that it was dark enough for him not to see how pink her cheeks were.

"Oh come on, tell me!" He said, lightly tickling her waist and she giggled.

"Well ... I was just wondering what Tony Stark has that I don't ..." She said with a mischievous smile that grew even wider at his look of total confusion. "I mean for you to let him call you Leoooo" She added, insisting on that last syllable.

"Oh please, I was not going to contradict my possibly future boss and I'm pretty sure that's not what you were thinking about ..."

"Oh no of course Tony, you can call me Leo ..." She started, in a really bad impression of his accent and he groaned.

"Oh please Jemma ..."

"And I looooove your work on this last Mark 2 armor, this is grrrround breaking work ..."

"... it's even worse than Daisy's and you actually have several relatives in Scotland!"

"And Tony will you please be my first born's godfather?" She continued, unperturbed with an even worse accent. And the more it annoyed Fitz, the more it amused her.

"Now you're just making stuff up ..." He said as he tried to put his hand on her mouth to stop her from talking.

She tried to escape him but of course, considering how wobbly her legs were she didn't go far and he quite easily managed to catch her back and encircle her shoulders with one arm while the other was on her mouth. Her cries for help were muffled by his hand and of course, it was hard to take them seriously when she couldn't stop laughing. To the point where she was soon breathless and didn't have the courage to keep fighting.

"Do you surrender?" He asked, grinning widely.

"Yes Leo, I surrender!" She answered, still giggling a bit and that's when she realized how intimate their posture was. He was basically hugging from behind, the hand that had been on her mouth now loosely cradling her cheeks and suddenly she felt her heart starting to beat a little faster in her chest.

If she'd been sober, she probably would have stepped away from him but instead, in her slightly tipsy state, she turned around in his arms so she was looking directly into his eyes, her heels bringing her to an even height with him. There was such a deep level of tenderness in his eyes that she felt her heart melt.

"You're pretty ... annoying but also quite funny when you're drunk ..." He said, the low tone of his voice sending shivers down her spine.

"I'm not drunk ..." She answered, her voice embarrassingly husky and unable to keep a wide smile from tugging at her lips.

"Then I guess you're annoying all the time ..." He teased and at this moment, she didn't want anything more than to kiss that smug little smile off his face.

And as he got even closer, for a moment she thought he had the same idea but then, out of nowhere, he tugged her head down a bit before pressing a soft kiss to her hairline before stepping away from her and taking back her hand to start walking again. She was pretty sure she let out a whimper of frustration but if he heard it, at least he acted like he didn't. She was so stunned by the sudden change in mood that she let him lead her without even being sure he was going in the right direction.

-0-0-0-

"So that's me ..." She said when they stopped in front of her building ten minutes later.

"I know ..." He answered grinning. "I've been there several times before you know ..."

"Of course I know, it's just-I was just-oh shut up!" She cried out, swatting his arm and he chuckled.

"So do you want to come up for coffee or ..." She asked, once again glad that it was dark enough for him not to see the blush on her face.

For a second, she thought she saw the beginning of a grin forming on his face but it quickly dissolved to turn into a softer smile.

"No I think I'm gonna head home. I've got an early start tomorrow since I missed worked today, what with the interview and everything ..." He answered and she did her best not to let the disappointment show on her face.

"Oh okay ..."

"But I'll see you soon right?" He asked, sounding strangely unsure.

"Of course Fitz ... after all we might be working in the same building soon." She answered, trying her best to sound cheerful, ignoring the knot forming in her guts for a reason she didn't quite fully understand.

"Yeah ..." He let out quietly while awkwardly putting his hands in his pant's pockets like he suddenly didn't know what to do with them. "Well goodnight Jemma" He said a few seconds later and after a moment's hesitation, he took a step towards her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, lingering just a bit longer than usual before stepping back and giving her a soft smile and he started to walk away.

"Goodnight ..." Jemma finally said after a moment but her voice was so low she wasn't even sure he heard her.

-0-0-0-

Jemma managed to make it up the three flights of stairs to her apartment, open her door and kick off her shoes before she finally let go and let herself fall on her couch. The tears started falling down on her cheeks and she still didn't even fully understand why she felt like that.

There was disappointment that he didn't kiss him of course, she couldn't deny that, and a lot of confusion and quite possibly a good dose of frustration. She had just come to the realization that she was harboring a big crush on her wonderful best friend, and from the way he acted all evening, she thought her feelings were very possibly reciprocated. It was all new and confusing but if they both felt the same, there was no harm in giving it a try because it could become something beautiful. At least that was her opinion because obviously, Fitz didn't share it.

Unless the crush was solely on her side because after all, she gave him the international signal for "If you come in, there will be coffee but there will also be kissing and snogging and possibly sex" and he politely turned her down. And what with the kisses on the cheek and forehead? What did those mean? Now she was terribly frustrated and confused because she didn't imagine the fact that he was the one to insist on celebrating at a super fancy restaurant with a super expensive bottle of champagne. And he was also the first one to take her hand. Men always said that women were impossible to understand but tonight Fitz definitely deserved to title of king of mixed signals.

Letting out on big sigh as she dried her eyes with one hand, Jemma stood up from the couch and went to the bathroom. It was useless to relive the events of tonight in her head now, it was still too fresh and she was a tiny bit tipsy. Hopefully, things would get clearer after a long shower and a good night's sleep. And if not, well she'd get to see Fitz soon enough and she'd be able to gather more data.

But fifteen minutes later, when she got out of the shower and grabbed a short and Fitz's Doctor Who shirt to wear in bed, she realized that it wouldn't be as easy as she thought to clear her head and find sleep tonight. Because it reminded her that when he first gave her the shirt, she spent an embarrassingly high number of nights wearing it to bed before washing it so it would keep Fitz's lovely smell. And as she finally settled in bed, even though she was a bit mad a him for being so confusing, she still wanted to text him to make sure he got home alright. And that fact reminded her that Fitz was always the last person she wanted to talk to before going to bed and the first one when she woke up in the morning.

Who was she kidding? She didn't have a crush on her best friend. She did have several crushes over the years. Some have led to disappointing dates, some have led to more or less long term relationships and some have led to nothing. But none had felt like that, not at first at least and that was because she didn't have a crush on Fitz, she was in love with him.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, what's so urgent that it couldn't wait for our girl's night on Saturday?" Daisy asked before she even sat opposite Jemma at their usual table in the coffee shop that had become their favorite since they first started spending time together.

"Oh ... I might have overreacted a bit when I said it was an emergency but I-I really needed to talk to you about something ..."

"Did something happen with Fitz last night?" Daisy asked nonchalantly like it was an evidence.

"What?! How do you ..." Jemma started, her eyes wide but Daisy cut her off.

"Logical deduction really. Well usually if you need to talk about something, you will always go to Fitz first. So either he's occupied, which is unlikely since that nerd has no social life except for you, me and the guys, and I know he's not seing the guys, either you didn't ask him because that's him you want to talk about. Also, you stopped replying to my texts after only a few ones last night and you never do that so ... What happened?"

"Daisy, did you just take a British accent to sound like Sherlock?" Jemma asked with a small grin to try and hide how impressed she actually was by how spot on Daisy had just been.

"Maybe ... but I'm right, aren't I?" Daisy answered with a raised eyebrow and Jemma's blushing cheeks was all the answer she needed.

"So spill the beans Simmons. What happened?"

"Well we went out to dinner to celebrate his successful interview and it was really nice ..."

"Wow Jemma, you're killing me with all the details here ..." Daisy let out and Jemma rolled her eyes.

"Will you let me talk or shall I call Bobby?"

"No no sorry! I'm listening ..." Daisy answered, her smile turning a little softer.

"Okay so ... first when we got out of the interview, he was kinda ... flirty ..."

"Oh that must have been painful to watch, I've seen how he flirts and ..."

"Oh no actually it was quite ... charming!" Jemma cut off and Daisy raised her eyebrows in surprise. "But I just thought it was the interview giving him an ego boost and there was nothing to read into that. But then he invited to the restaurant and it was really fancy! And I mean really really fancy Daisy, the kind of restaurant you take someone on a date ... when you're Tony Stark or something!" Jemma cried out.

"Oh ... so he really was flirting ..."

"Well I wasn't sure because he insisted that it was just a way of thanking me for all I've done for him but ..."

"But?"

"But then, he pulled my chair for me and bought a whole bottle of champagne and held my hand for quite some time and he was all confident and sweet and ..."

"And?"

"... I really liked it ..."

"Wow!" Daisy let out with a small chuckle.

"I know right? Who would have thought?"

"Well me and pretty much everyone else around the two of you actually." Daisy let out and Jemma's face fell quite comically. "No what's actually surprising is that he finally got his shit together and you didn't chicken out!"

"Hey!" Jemma cried out, offended.

"I'm sorry but for two geniuses you can be really slow when it comes to your own feelings ..." Daisy said with a softer tone as she rested her elbows on the table to get a little closer to her friend.

"Well actually I think I knew I had a crush on him for some time but it's only logical since he was the first real friend I made when I moved here and he's so sweet and ... but I thought it would pass and then-then last night happened ..." Jemma said, her face going from offended to a little sad.

"So what actually happened? And why is it making you sad? Did he kiss you and it was terrible or something? Come on Jemma, you're killing me!"

"No Daisy, nothing happened that's the problem!" Jemma cried out, desperation evident in her voice.

"And you wanted something to happen?"

"Well ... yeah and I tried to make it happen too ... When he was walking me home, because he insisted on walking me home" Jemma started, rolling her eyes but incapable of completely keeping the fondness off her voice. "I thought he was going to kiss me but he ended up kissing me on the forehead like I was his little sister or something ... and then I invited him in for coffee and he said no, that he had an early start and everything but we all know what that means ..."

"Wow ... What the fuck Fitz?" Daisy let out and Jemma couldn't help laughing despite her sour mood.

"Yeah ..."

"So when you said you invited him for coffee, did you actually mean coffee or you know ... coffee?" Daisy asked and Jemma had a small moment of self satisfaction. At least, she had confirmation that when someone invited someone in for coffee after a night out, it obviously meant something else entirely.

"Well we had quite a bit to drink so there was going to be actual coffee but yeah ... that too!" She answered, insisting on the word that to make her point really clear. "And Fitz had to know what it meant and he rejected me and I feel so embarrassed now!" Jemma finally let out, taking her head in her hands.

"Oh sweetheart I'm sorry ... If that helps, I have a few single friends I could introduce to you, they're not necessarily the brightest of the bunch but you don't need them to be smart to ..."

"Urgh no Daisy!" Jemma cried out with an horrified expression on her face. "It's not the problem, I mean ... yeah i'm a bit frustrated but I-I think I'm in love with him and now I don't know where he stands and I don't want to ruin things between us and I-I ..."

Suddenly she felt a little ridiculous being so worked up about something like that. She felt like she was sixteen again, not that she hadn't been in love since then but it never felt so intense and important as it did then and as it felt right now. Fortunately, before she could get too deep into her head, Daisy interrupted her by taking her hand.

"Hey Jemma ..." She said softly. "It's going to be alright. Do you want more coffee? I think we need more coffee ..."

"Erm ... yeah that'd be nice I think ..."

"Okay then, i'll go get us coffee and then we can talk more." Daisy said as she stood up and took her purse. "Oh and by coffee I only mean coffee ... don't go getting any ideas about me you naughty girl ..." She added with a wide grin before walking to the counter and Jemma burst out laughing.

-0-0-0-

After an hour and two more cups of coffee, the conversation started going around in circle and Daisy finally voiced what Jemma knew was the only thing to do.

"Listen Jemma, I'll talk to you about that for as long as you want but in the end, I think you know what to do ..."

"Yeah ..." Jemma answered with a tone of resignation in her voice. She had never been good with voicing her feelings and these ones were especially confusing.

"Because how much as I think I know Fitz, a lot of what's going on inside that big brain of his is still a mystery to me! So if you want to know how he feels, you're gonna have to ask him!" Daisy finally let out with a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah I know, of course I know, I guess I just needed reinsurance ..."

"So ... When are you going to talk to him?"

"Well, I'm supposed to see him tomorrow after work to go shopping and help him buy a new suit so I guess we'll also have time for coffee, real coffee I mean ... and a conversation." Jemma answered with a small slightly uneasy smile.

"Well look at you!" Daisy said teasingly. "Not even a couple yet and you're already dressing him as you want!"

"Oh no! No no no Daisy I wouldn't do that! I don't want to change him. That's what she did and I'm not-He asked me to help him chose and ..."

"Hey hey I know Jemma! I was just teasing!" Daisy cut her off before she could finish her sentence and her face, that had contorted into a mix of hurt and panic, relaxed a bit. "I know that's what she did and I'm so glad he got rid of the Hitler youth haircut and is also willing to get rid of the dark suits! I mean come on, he looks like a James Bond villain in those!" She added and Jemma couldn't help laughing at that. He wore one of those when they first met and she had to agree that he had something of a bond villain. Except, of course, for the fact that he was really drunk and his hair was kinda messed up. After the break-up, he had apparently immediately decided to let his curls get back to their natural state because she'd never seen the supposedly nazi haircut. And she was glad too because she was rather fond of the curls.

"Not to forget that no-one can really be villain with such a cute and charming accent." Jemma added and Daisy made a funny face. "What?"

"Nothing, just ... I think you fawning over Fitz is going to take some getting used to ..."

"Well yeah I guess ... for me too actually!" Jemma chuckled.

"But well, I guess helping him choose a suit is kind of a girlfriend-y activity already so maybe you won't even have to bring up the conversation ..." Daisy said with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah ... and if I can get him to buy more blue shirts that bring out his eyes and more fitted trousers that'll bring out his cute little bum, I get that's a plus ..." Jemma said mischievously as she waited for Daisy's reaction.

"Urgh Jemma!"

And she was not disappointed.

-0-0-0-

Her conversation with Daisy had left Jemma a bit more serene about the whole Fitz situation. It was true that she could over analyze every one of their recent interactions to try and determine if he loved her back or at least felt more than friendship for her, but in the end the only hundred percents effective way of knowing was to ask him. And Daisy made her confident that whatever his answer was, they'd be able to deal with it and not destroy what they had.

So when she found herself being ready to leave work a whole hour before they were supposed to meet up to go shopping, she decided to go and surprise him at his lab. He probably wouldn't be ready to go before the agreed upon time but she knew he wouldn't mind her hanging around and it'd be a nice opportunity to see what he'd been working on recently, even though he was less than enthusiastic about it. But if everything went as they hoped, he wouldn't be working there for much longer anyway.

Also, now that she admitted to herself that she was in love with him, she decided to allow herself to act a bit like a lovestruck teenager, which ironically she didn't really have the opportunity to do when she was an actual teenager. So it was without an ounce of shame that she smiled widely at the idea of just sitting on the visitor's couch in his lab and watch him work, hoping he'd be working with his hands and not just perform simulations on his computer. Oh how she loved to watch his long agile fingers work on tiny electronic pieces! There was something extremely attractive and intriguing about a man who was able to use his hands so delicately. And god forbid if he wore his huge enhancing goggles that made him look so unbearably adorable! She would probably not be able to stop herself from kissing him ...

"Fitz is right." She thought as she put on her jacket and walked out of her lab. "I really am on odd bird sometimes!"

-0-0-0-

Jemma was so enthusiastic that it took her even less time than usual to walk the short distance from her office to Fitz's and that made her wonder if maybe they had already crossed paths before that famous night outside the bar. She always thought it was a bit scary to think that if only one tiny thing had gone differently at some point, her life could be much different than it was now. But when it came to Fitz, it was kind of reassuring to think that even if she didn't meet him that night, with their common friends and the way they lived and worked so close, they would have ended up meeting at some point anyway. However ridiculous it sounded and even if she obviously didn't believe in such concepts, it felt like their meeting was fated.

As she was approaching SciTech's building on the busy New York street, she was surprised to catch sight of Fitz getting out of the building. He was supposed to be quite busy today and she thought it was unlikely that he'd already finished working a whole 45 minutes before he was supposed to. Most likely he was running to the coffee shop just across the street to get a muffin. He always said his brain needed sugar to function properly and she couldn't help smiling as she remembered him insisting that it was scientifically proven only a few days ago.

She was about to wave at him to try to get his attention when she saw him turn his head in the opposite direction. He wasn't alone and he was talking to someone. God, she really was badly hooked if she wasn't even able to see anyone else when he was here. But then she saw who that person was and she stopped abruptly, earning herself a few glares from the people walking around her. But she couldn't have cared less at the moment.

Aida.

They were supposed to go shopping together and she was going to tell him how she felt and he was going to tell her he felt the same and finally kiss her and it was going to be wonderful. But instead he was leaving work early with Aida, the evil robotic woman who broke his heart. And even if she couldn't see Fitz's face, she could see that Aida was definitely smiling.

For a moment she remained frozen in place like a deer caught in headlights. She really didn't know what to think or do so it was on instinct that she was able to turn around and start walking away even though she had no idea where she was going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of sorry for leaving you on another cliffhanger but I'll work on the next chapters much faster now since there are only two of them left. :D


	7. Chapter 7

Fitz was now getting into full panic mode.

Jemma was never late and even on the off chance that she was, even by just five minutes, you'd get a phone call, several text messages and you'd probably receive a card in the mail a few days later to insist on how sorry she was for being late. And now, he'd been waiting for her for almost thirty minutes and not only did she not warn him, but she wasn't answering her phone. But it's only after he called her lab, in the unlikely chance that she was just so busy that she forgot, and they told him she'd actually left at least an hour ago that he started panicking.

Anything could have happened to her, she could have been hit by a car, she could have been assaulted or kidnapped or ... He thought about calling the police but realized it was a bit crazy, the police wouldn't send out search teams for someone who was just half an hour late.

"So what now? think Fitz think ..." He told himself. It was quite strange that she left work so early so, even if the person on the phone didn't say anything, he thought that maybe she wasn't feeling well, went home and fell asleep. He'd call her landline to check up on her but she didn't have one. He couldn't blame her really, who had a landline these days? So he figured he should probably go home, get the spare key she'd given him just in case, then go to her place. She'd probably think he was crazy for panicking over so little but at this point he didn't care, better be safe than sorry.

But since it would take him about an hour to do that, he decided to try one last thing before potentially losing time over nothing if she wasn't home. He knew that Jemma didn't make many other friends except him since she came to live in New York and even if he knew he was her best friend, Daisy was a close second. So if anyone knew where Jemma could be or why she wasn't answering her phone, it was her. And Daisy's phone was like her child, it was never out of her sight so the chance of her not picking up was slim to none.

"Hello" Daisy said, finally picking up after five rings when he thought he'd be sent to voicemail. And maybe the line was bad but she sounded strangely cold and not her usual cheery self.

"Hi Daisy how are you?" He asked both out of politeness and a little worry at the strangeness of her tone.

"Fine. You?" Okay, that was definitely not the line, something was wrong.

"Erm ... not great actually that's why I'm calling. I was supposed to meet Jemma half an hour ago and she's not here and she's not picking up her phone and I'm starting to worry ... so I was wondering if maybe you knew something ..."

"Oh I don't know Fitz. Why would she NOT pick up the phone when you call her?" Daisy answered, now sounding downright agressive.

"Okayyyy ... I hear the sarcasm in your voice, like I should know why but I really don't. And I'm really worried so could you please save us both time and tell me why you're mad at me and why Jemma should be so I can do something about it?" He asked, trying his best not to sound too exasperated. He knew it wouldn't work well with Daisy. If he got angrier than that, she'd probably end up hanging up on him and he still wouldn't know what was happening with Jemma.

"Fine. Then please tell me WHAT. THE. FUCK. YOU WERE DOING WITH FREAKING AIDA?"

"WHAT?!! Oh .... Oh no no no no no no ..." It didn't take long to put the pieces back together. Jemma had left work earlier than usual and must have decided to come visit him at his lab. It wasn't unusual for them to do that. The guy from security had even started calling her by her first name, saying that she was a ray of sunshine and things like that. He knew it was a bit ridiculous and he didn't really have any right to it but, even though the man was sixty, it always made him a bit jealous.

"Oh yes ... So what now? Are you getting back together after being miserable because of her for months? Would you really do that to Jemma after ... after everything?" Daisy cried out and he let out a loud sigh of frustration.

"NO! Of course not! It's nothing like that! Well it was for her but not for me! Listen she-she came to the lab, said she wanted to talk to me, that she'd made a big mistake and so on ... and I probably should have told her to fuck off but I wanted closure and I wanted her to see how much better I was without her. It probably was a bit immature but well ... that's me I guess. So I went out to get a coffee with her for like half an hour and then I left to meet Jemma but she wasn't there ..."

"Oh Fitz ...." Daisy let out and if it wasn't as fond as when she usually said his name like that, at least the anger was gone from her voice. So it was probably safe to say that she believed him.

"But wait ... even if I did want to get back with Aida, why would Jemma be so mad at me? I mean we're friends, best friends even but ..."

"Oh please Fitz!" And now she was mad again. "First of all, the fact that she spent weeks mending your broken little heart would be enough to be mad at you for wanting to get back with the one who broke it in the first place and second of all, don't play dumb it's not a pretty color on you!"

"What-what do you ..."

"Come on I've seen the way you look at each other and I know about the whole romantic dinner thing and just MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY! The whole broken hearted puppy act won't work much longer Fitzy!" She let out and again he sighed in frustration.

"It's not an act! I am-well I WAS really confused and I just don't want to ruin things with her and ..."

"I know Fitz I know ... but whatever you're feeling just be straight with her and tell her!"

"Well, I'm trying to but I don't know where she is and she won't answer her bloody phone Daisy!" He cried out, his voice reaching an embarrassingly high note.

"FINE! Fine ... Just don't get all bad Scottish temper on me okay? I'll call her and tell her she needs to listen to you ... but I can't promise you anything, she said she wanted to get some air and have time to think, she was really upset, so I don't know if she'll even pick up the phone for me ..." Daisy said, her voice getting softer at the end.

"Okay ..." He answered, his voice barely more than a whisper as he was now starting to feel tears forming in his eyes. "Thank you Daisy ..."

"That's alright, just wait like fifteen minutes and try calling her again ... and Fitz?"

"Yeah?"

"Make this right or I'll kick your ass so bad you won't be able to sit for a month!" She said with playful tone and even if he knew she was probably half serious about it, he couldn't help chuckling a bit.

-0-0-0-

Half an hour later, Fitz had made it home, walking all the way there instead of taking the subway by fear of missing Jemma's call. Whatever happened he knew that there was no use waiting for her where they agreed to meet, they wouldn't go shopping tonight. So he might as well wait at his place. But as he watched his phone one more time, his screen depressingly empty of any kind of notification, he had to come to the conclusion that either Daisy couldn't reach her, or she could and Jemma chose to ignore her advice.

One way or another Fitz had to do something, he'd never been a patient man and he knew he wouldn't be able to wait for Jemma to change her mind and give him a chance to explain. So he decided to call her one more time. He knew this would go straight to voicemail like all his previous calls but this time he'd leave a message. This was not how he had planned on telling her what he had to tell her, and he would definitely not tell her everything that way, but he hoped it would be enough for her to call him back or agree to see him.

"Jemma hi ..." He started, in a soft voice, trying not to sound neither too cheery nor too whiny. "Listen, I'm sorry about what you saw, I know what it could have looked like but I swear, I SWEAR nothing could be further from the truth! SHE did want me back and I was so surprised but I-I took this opportunity to take a little revenge, to show how great my life was these days without her and I know childish but well... and she can get a little hysterical so I didn't want her to cause a scene at work so ... because my life HAS been amazing recently and it's all thanks to you! And I really want to talk to you about that I do ... but not over the phone ... So I'm sorry if I acted like a fool and I'm sorry if I hurt you, that's the last thing I wanted to do ... and if you have it in you to forgive me and listen to what I have to say... please call me back or better tell me when I can see you ..." Then he hung up before telling her things he definitely didn't want to say over the phone, not for the first time anyway.

-0-0-0-

He managed to wait another half hour before he felt way too restless to just wait. There was no way he'd be able to focus on anything anyway so he decided to go to her place, hoping maybe that's where she would be and that she'd be willing to open the door. On his way, he took a peek inside the small coffee shop where they'd been to have breakfast the first time he officially met her. They'd taken the habit of going there a lot and he thought she might have come here since she liked how calm it always was. But of course, she wasn't.

When he got to her apartment, he knocked a few times but there was no answer. He didn't hear a sound coming from the apartment or see a single shadow moving through the door so he assumed that she wasn't ignoring him but was actually just not there. So now he had two options. He could either go back home and spend all evening worrying and getting nothing done anyway or he could just wait for her. She'd have to come home at some point, right?

So in the unlikely chance that she was home but just really good at hiding, he knocked one more time and told her he'd be waiting outside once she'll be ready to talk to him, feeling a bit ridiculous talking to a closed door with, most likely, no one on the other side.

Not feeling like waiting just next to her door and facing the curious looks of her neighbors, he decided to go out and wait on the stairs in front of her building. At least the weather was nice and he had hours of battery on his phone and anyway he was willing to wait for her for as long as it was necessary.

-0-0-0-

Two hours later, he started to get seriously hungry. He considered going to the coffee shop across the street to get a sandwich but decided against it because he couldn't risk missing her after waiting for her for so long. Then he considered having a pizza delivered but then again, what would it look like if he was in the process of eating a pizza when she came home? He was supposed to wait anxiously for her, not have a picnic on the side of the street.

So he ignored the rumbling of his stomach and kept on waiting.

For a time he kept busy answering a few work emails then trying to finally pass that level of plants VS zombies but being unfocused as he was, he kept on failing so after almost smashing his phone against the wall, he decided to stop and put it back in his pocket. Feeling a little tired after a long and stressful day, he brought his legs one stair up, crossed his arms on his knees and rested his head there, closing his eyes for a moment.

-0-0-0-

"That's not fair!"

Lost in thoughts and half asleep as he was, it took Fitz a moment to realize it was Jemma's voice he's just heard. His head shot up and his eyes widened in confusion and surprise. She was leaning against the handrail with her arms crossed over her chest and it made him wonder how long ago she'd arrived. Was he really so deep in thoughts that he didn't hear her approach? And then, did it mean that she spent all this time ... watching him?

"Hu ... what?" was all that could come out of his mouth and she rolled her eyes at him. She seemed really exasperated but not angry. He supposed that was a start.

"You don't get to look all sad and vulnerable and ... so freaking adorable! I'm mad at you and I'm not gonna let it go so easy ... you need to explain yourself right now!"

"Jemma, did you ..." He started, standing up and taking a step towards her but she lifted her hands up to stop him from getting closer and cut him off.

"Yes, I got your message and I was going to call you but now that you're here, explain yourself!"

"Okay okay ..." He let out, feeling a little sheepish after her rebuttal. "Like I said, Aida she ... wanted us to get back together and it took me unawares ... I guess what surprised me the most is that I didn't even consider it for a second. And I should have just told her to go away but she'd hurt me so bad that I wanted a revenge ..." He let out and she rolled her eyes once more.

"I know, childish, but you know I'm not above that! Anyway, she tends to get hysterical and I didn't want her to cause a scene at work so I went out. And really, I was prepared to rub my success and happiness in her face, and be really mean about it, but when she asked me how I was doing these days, all I could say was "Thank you"" He finished and the expression on her face turned to confusion.

"What-Why would you ...?"

"Because if she didn't break my heart all these months ago, I would never have met you!" He cut her off. "And the sadness I felt for months was totally worse it knowing that I now have you in my life! Because you're the reason for all the hapinness I've been feeling these past few months. So really there is nothing going on with Aida and there'll never be anymore because seing her after being so close to you for months, it made me wonder if I ever really loved her. because with you I feel-I'm ..." He trailed off, feeling a little breathless both from speaking so fast and scared about what he was about to say and the impact it could have on their relationship.

"Okay" She cut him off with what looked like a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Okayyy?" He asked, confused.

"I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yeah ... I think you're childish and an idiot ... but a well meaning and honest one!" She sighed and there was definitely a small smile on her face now so he thought it was safe to give her one in return. "And now I would like you explain what happened the other day!" She added with a bit of a stern look.

"Do you mean ..."

"I mean when you took me to a very nice restaurant, held my hand half the time, basically taking me on the nicest, most romantic date I've been to in years and ending it like we were cousins ... Care to tell what was that all about?" She asked and he felt himself blush a very deep shade of red. Of course she was right, that's exactly what happened.

"Well erm ... I guess the success of the interview made a little bolder than usual and, I'm not really proud of it but, I didn't like the way Tony Stark kept looking at you and it made me a little jealous and it made me realize that I had ... more than friendly feelings for you ... well I think I knew that for some time now but I was too scared to admit it ... but the whole thing made me think that maybe it was ..."

"Time to act on it before it was too late?" She finished for him. Her face was unreadable but it was too late to stop now anyway.

"Yeah ... So that's the reason for the flirting and the hand-holding ... not for the restaurant though, I would have taken you there anyway because being my best friend is a good enough reason to treat you to a nice meal ..." He added and she couldn't help smiling a bit at that.

"Okay then what happened after that?" She asked, looking a little exasperated.

"Well I wanted to ... kiss you ... a lot ... and I felt like maybe you wanted that too but you were drunk and I couldn't take advantage of you and ..."

"Urgh Fitz!" She cut him off with a loud sigh.

"What?"

"How annoyingly chivalrous of you!" She let out with a snort and he felt a little vexed.

"What? What would you have thought of me if I kissed you and came home with you when you were intoxicated?"

"I wasn't intoxicated Fitz and you know it! I was quite tipsy but I was more than sober enough to know what I wanted and feel frustrated about the fact that you didn't kiss me the next morning ..."

"So you did want to me to ...?"

"Kiss me? Yes Fitz!"

"Oh ... So does that mean you also have ...?"

"More than friendly feelings for you?" He nodded with a small hopeful smile. "Yes Fitz! And don't tell me you didn't see that the other day ... And even before I started drinking!" She added with an eyebrow raised defiantly.

"No I did ... I guess I got scared ... I was always a bit of a coward when it came to feelings ..." He said before he let out a big sigh. "God why does everything have to be so complicated?" He let out taking his head in his hands for a second and when he looked up again, Jemma was suddenly much closer to him and she had that special soft smile on her lips that made his heart leap out of his chest.

"Maybe it wouldn't be if you just officially asked me out on a date and kissed me when I very obviously showed you I wanted you to ..." She half whispered and the low tone of her voice sent delicious shivers down his spine.

"I know, I know Jemma ..." He cried out. "I've ruined everything again, really I shouldn't be allowed around people, maybe the monastery wasn't such a bad idea after all ..."

"Fitz?" She cut him off, taking another step towards him. "Will you please stop rambling and kiss me now before I change my mind for good?" She asked with a seductive grin that made everything around them disappear. He couldn't believe that after he acted like such an idiot, twice, she still wanted to kiss him. And there was nothing else in the world he wanted more and yet, somehow, he was stuck, his eyes travelling between her brown orbs and her full lips and back up without being able to make a single move, like a deer caught in headlights ... Until her brows furrowed and a little worry replaced some of the mischievousness in her eyes. She was probably starting to wonder if he was having second thoughts and he just couldn't have that. He couldn't mess this up once more.

He brought his hand to her cheek, softly tilted her face up and finally closed the distance to press his lips to hers tentatively. Her hands automatically went behind his neck and it gave him the confidence to wrap his arms around her waist to pull her closer. It was the sweetest of kisses, just soft brushes of lips against lips but when they parted, she let out a loud contented sigh that seemed to express both pleasure and the one word that was floating around in his mind:

"Finally" They both said at the same time. It made them open their eyes for a moment and they shared a wide smile filled with tenderness.

And as perfect as this first kiss had been, it was not what he had in mind the other day and obviously neither did she and he was not going to disappoint her once more. He captured her lips again and where it had been slow and tender the first time, this one was all passion. Their lips moved hungrily against each other until her hands went up into his hair. Of course from the way they'd been working in such perfect synchrony from the beginning, he should have guessed she'd know instinctively how to drive him the very good kind of crazy. He gasped into her mouth and, pulling her so close that she had to arch her back, he parted her lips, sucking gently at her plump upper lip for a second before he licked it slowly, making her fingers tighten in his hair instinctively and sending a rush of heat directly to his guts. She parted her lips further with a low moan and he deepened the kiss, going from teasing caresses of his tongue against hers to hungrily mapping her mouth. Without even realizing it, he'd backed her up against the handrail and it's only when he pressed himself more fully against her, making them both gasp at the contact, that he reluctantly broke the kiss. From the loud face cough one of Jemma's neighbor let out when he passed in front of them, it was obviously becoming a little too hot for such a public place. He gave her one last kiss on the lips, pressed a soft one on her forehead and enveloped her in a tight hug.

They remained silent for a moment, catching their breaths and just enjoying the moment. In the back of his brain, there had been also the fear that it was too late, that, after being friends for months, it would feel too strange to let their relationship evolve into something romantic. Once, he had obviously been scared over nothing.

"You know ..." She started, her voice so low and breathless that it made him smile widely. "I'm gonna give you a pass just this one time because it was a sweet gesture and it was just after a pretty amazing kiss BUT if you ever kiss me on the forehead again, I'm going to be really mad!" She finished with a teasing tone and he took a step away from her, looking a bit offended.

"Oh wow ... We've only just had our first kiss and you're already bossing me around! So what other kind of kiss am I not allowed now?" He asked, pouting.

"Well you can kiss me anyway you want BUT if you want this kind of kisses to continue ..." She started before pressing a kiss to his mouth once more and just grazing his lower lips with her tongue before stepping back. "... there'll be no more saying goodbye to me with a kiss on the forehead after romancing me all evening. No one likes a tease Fitz!" She added and he blushed slightly.

"Yeah I know ... that was kind of stupid but I guess I'll have to make it up to you by focusing all my attention on your lips now!" He let with a sly grin and he knew he was in trouble when she reciprocated with one that was downright provocative.

"Well ... not only my lips I hope ..."

Apparently his mind, and well ... other of his body parts, had no trouble at all making the transition from friends to more than that.

"So hum ... do you wanna come up for coffee ... or whatever?" She asked with a soft voice. "Unless you have an early start tomorrow ..." She added, looking up at him innocently.

"What? No of course no, tomorrow's Saturday, why would I have an early start on a ..." He started until he saw her smile turn a lot more mischievous. "Ah ah ah okay I get it, it was a terribly lame excuse. Wasn't it?" He asked, scratching his neck in this nervous gesture he never was able to get rid of.

"Yeah it really was!" She answered, grinning widely now.

"Then I guess I'll have a lot to make up for?" He asked in a low voice as he got closer and put his arm loosely around her lower back, his face barely inches away from her.

Her smile turned softer again and she grabbed his free hand. "I'm counting on it ..." She whispered before turning around and running up the stairs with Fitz in her tail.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for taking so long to write this last chapter, real life got in the way and then I didn't exactly know how to wrap it up until I finally found the idea for this short epilogue. For my defense, this is the longest I've written for this story so far so at least you didn't wait for nothing :D This chapter is rated M/E and is mostly made of fluff then smut then more fluff and smut :D  
> Hope you'll like it and the next few stories I have in the works and that I will be posting soon if work lets me have a bit more free time in the weeks to come!

By the time they made it to her floor, she'd already forgiven him for that stupid forehead kiss. Not that she would tell him immediately because from the way he thoroughly snogged her in that elevator and couldn't keep his lips and hands away from her as she was trying to open the door, he was obviously very serious about making up for his mistakes and it would have been a shame to break his concentration.

"Fiiitz!" She cried out in delight as he pulled her to him the second they got inside her flat. But anything she had planned on saying after that flew out of her mind as he crashed his lips against hers in an amazingly heated kiss. He pushed her against the wall with a strength that surprised her and if there was obviously a lot of passion in the gesture, she also loved the way he put his hands in her hair to make sure she wouldn't hit her head too hard. It was a delight to discover this new cocky and confident Fitz she only got a few glimpses of after the interview, but it was nice to know that the sweet and awkward engineer she fell in love with was still always there.

Once she'd recovered from the attack, she started kissing him back in earnest and finally feeling free of touching him like she'd been wanting to do since that first amazing kiss downstairs, and if she was completely honest, probably since she'd seen him shirtless months ago. So feeling bold, she let her hands descend slowly from his shoulders to his waist then down towards the curve of his perfect little arse. She would have been a bit annoyed that it was so firm and round when he hadn't exercised a single day in his life, if it didn't feel so nice under her hands. As she gave it a little squeeze, he let out a loud groan and instinctively pressed himself closer against her. Which made her breath out a small moan of pleasure at the contact of the other part of him that was more than firm, which soon turned into one of pain as she felt the door handle dig into her back.

"Oh my god I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" He asked as he jumped away from her like he'd been burnt. The look on his face was a mix of horror and guilt. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to go so fast I just ..."

"Fitz calm down it's alright!" She cut him off. It was kind of adorable the way he could get worried over nothing when it came to her, even if it was a tad too dramatic. "The door handle's just digging into my back!" She added and a sheepish expression replaced the one he had just a moment ago.

"Oh ... sorry ... I should have thought of that ..." He said, his face flushed in embarrassment.

"That's fine really ..." She answered with a fond smile as she closed the distance between them again and took his hand in hers. "How about we take this somewhere more comfortable though?" She asked with a wide seductive smile.

"Oh ... so you don't wanna stop ..."

"No! Of course no I started it Fitz ... and I really like it when you're like that!" She cut him off as she walked backwards to lead him to the couch and made him seat next to her. "And also it's kind of flattering to inspire so much passion after getting me all confused the other day ..." She added with a mischievous smile.

"Well then ..." He grinned before moving forward and cupping her jaw to kiss her tenderly on the lips. They took their time exploring each other's mouth with their lips and tongues and slowly, their hands started exploring each other's skin as well. Jemma's fingers went up to thread through his curls like she'd wanted to do for so long. God she loved those curls. They were so soft and springy, it was like digging her fingers into a wooly jumper after a long day in the cold, at the same time comforting and strangely sensual. He seemed to enjoy the feeling just as much as she was because he let out a contented sigh and let his own warm hands descend down her back and just below the waistline of her jeans. She straightened her back as much as she could and pressed herself further against him, kissing him with renewed energy. He took it as sign that the gesture was appreciated and slipped his hands lower to end up palming her cheeks through her knickers.

"Fitz ..." She moaned as she started to divert her kisses from his lips to his jaw and neck. Feeling an intense heat starting to pool between her legs, she put her hands around his shoulders and pulled him towards her until he was lying down on top of her on the sofa ... in a very awkward and uncomfortable position. Jemma giggled lightly before scooting back a bit more to give him more room.

"C'mere ..." She said, pulling her against him once more and he chuckled before gently descending over her until he laid fully on top of her, his hips resting in the cradle of her own. She parted her legs and wrapped them loosely around his thighs. As she looked up at him, she could see you how his baby blue eyes has turned much darker with desire and when he ground lightly against her without breaking eye contact, she couldn't hold back a loud moan of desire. She knew she probably wasn't objective because she was so in love with him but she didn't think she'd ever seen anything more erotic than the look in his eyes at this moment.

Until his stomach let out a really loud growl and she burst out laughing.

"Hey!" he protested as she pushed him back up a bit. "'s not my fault I didn't have anything to eat since lunch!" He pouted and her laughter turned into a tender smile.

"Awww, poor Fitz! Maybe we should get something to eat before ..."

"No 'm fine I can wait ..." He cut her off, capturing her lips again in a deep slow kiss that made everything else fly away from her mind again. But she had just started untucking his shirt from his pants to slip her hands under it when her own stomach let out an even louder growl and she could feel him grin against her mouth.

"Okay let's find something to eat, I'm kind of starving myself ..." She let out as she broke the kiss again.

"Mmhmm ..." He mumbled as he buried his face in her hair and started laying open mouth kisses down her neck and collarbone.

"Fitz come on, let's ... oh god!" And now he was palming her butt through her knickers again, bringing her even closer to him and it was hard to concentrate on her stomach at this precise moment.

Until her stomach let out another loud noise and she felt her resolve harden a bit. She pushed him back gently but firmly until she was able to sit down. He looked at her like a child who just had his favorite toy confiscated and she rolled her eyes fondly. How he managed to go from very distractingly sexy to adorable in a matter of seconds was beyond her but it was probably one of those mysteries that made her fall in love with him in the first place.

"How about we order a pizza? I've spent hours walking around the city and I'm famished." She asked.

"Oh ... Of course Jemma ... I'm sorry I insisted, I didn't realize you were so hungry as well and I just got carried away ... God I can be such an arse ..." He started but she cut him off before he had the time to start another melodramatic rant about how he's such an terrible person.

"Fitz!" She cried out, grabbing his hand. "It's alright there's nothing to be sorry about. AGAIN, I think I made it quite clear that I like what's happening right now BUT ... I don't know about you but I never thought loud stomach noises were a turn on!" She teased and he smiled a sheepishly.

"Yeah I guess you have a point ..."

"Also because I love you so much, I don't want to rush into this and make mistakes. I'm not saying I don't want this to continue really soon BUT I think maybe it would be good to slow down a bit and talk about it ... about us over dinner ... What do you think?"

The smile on his face had gone from sheepish to ecstatic but he kept looking at her with wide eyes and it didn't seem like he was planning on opening his mouth to speak anytime soon.

"Fitz, did you hear me?"

"Hu ... Sorry actually I don't think I've heard anything after I love you ..." He finally answered, grinning even wider if it was possible and his eyes filling with tears.

"But Fitz I've told you that already ..."

"No you said you had more than friendly feelings, this is ... this is different ..." He cut her off, his voice rough with emotions and her heart melted a bit. She remembered the few times he cried in her arms and how sad and broken he was at the time. And it felt incredibly good to see the tears of joy he probably didn't even realize had rolled down his cheeks.

"Oh Fitz ..." She breathed, cupping his jaw and running her thumb over the apple of his cheek to wipe the tears.

"I love you too Jemma ... so much ..." He let out before pulling her to him and into a tight hug. And as she felt him tenderly stroke her back and his heart beat wildly against her chest, she thought that dinner could wait a bit longer and wrapped her arms around his waist, letting out a small contented sigh.

-0-0-0-

"So you really went that far?" He asked, grabbing a second slice of pizza.

"Yeah ... Well at first I guess i started walking home but then I didn't feel like actually going upstairs so I kept on walking. And at some point, I felt tired so I stopped at Starbuck's to get a coffee and took out my phone again and got Daisy's voice mail and yours and then I thought i'd get home, maybe call you later I don't know ... but then well ... you know the rest!" She let out with a small shrug. "New York really is a huge city though ... I walked for like three hours and I feel like I barely got out of my neighborhood ... and I thought London was big!" She added and they both chuckled.

"You know I really am sorry ... I know what it's like to be heartbroken and I never want you to feel that way, even less because of me, I should have ..."

"Fitz really it's alright now ..." She cut him off. "There's nothing to be sorry for, except for not kissing me properly two days ago ..." She grinned and he chuckled nervously. "Maybe it was a bit childish to want to get revenge on Aida but after what she did to you ... I mean I've never been cheated on but when I saw you with her and thought ... and there was nothing between us, not officially at least, and it still felt awful and I've seen how bad she made you feel ... so I don't blame you for wanting to do it. I might have reacted the same way ..." She added and he gave her a small but sincere grateful smile.

"Thank you Jemma ..." He said, putting one hand on her knee where she was sitting cross legged on the couch next to him.

"And I guess I could have come to you immediately and confronted you instead of making my own conclusions ..."

"Oh no Jemma I don't blame you, it was totally understandable to think that and ..."

"No but that's the problem between us ..." She cut him off and his brows furrowed in confusion and alarm. "We're so used to understanding each other perfectly without talking when it comes to work that we think it's the same with how we feel for each other ... but it's not ... feelings are ... messy and complicated and illogical so we need to be honest and tell each other everything Fitz ... do you think you can do that?" She asked and she could see his face relax. Being the dramatic man that he is, he probably imagined the worst again, that if she mentioned a problem between them, it had to mean they were doomed.

"Yeah I do Jemma and actually I want to tell you all these things because for the first time in my life I finally feel like I can trust someone with everything. You make me happy Jemma, more than ever and not just since tonight, pretty much since I met you. Seing Aida reminded me how unhealthy our relationship was ... I always felt like she controlled me and that everything I did, I did to please her and I just had to hide what made me ... me. With you it's so different, we're equal in every sense of the word, I'm never afraid of you or what your reaction might be because you accept me just the way I am and support me and ... I feel the same about you. I love every little thing about you from the way you scrunch up your nose when I say something weird to the way you fit so perfectly in my arms when I hug you ... How's that for honesty?" He finished with a little side grin and expectant look in his eyes.

For a moment, she just looked at him in delighted shock, trying her best to stop the tears that were pooling in her eyes to fall down. "I think that's ... that's a nice start ..." She finally let out and his smile turned bigger.

"Damn ... you Scots really know how to make a romantic speech!" She added before turning around completely and engulfing him into another big hug.

"It does fit perfectly ..." She whispered in his ear after a moment.

"Yeah ..."

After a few minutes like this, they finally broke apart but didn't go far. After stifling a big yawn, she rested her head on his shoulder and he opened his arm for her to get comfy.

"Sorry ..." She said, her voice a bit sleepy.

"That's alright you can rest a bit if you like ... You had a long day." He whispered against her hair, the low tone of his voice soothing and already lulling her to sleep.

"Yeah I'll just close my eyes for five minutes ... ten tops ..."

-0-0-0-

The next thing Jemma knew, she was in her bed and she could see the sun shining even through her closed eyelids. She could hear the birds chirping in the relative quietness of an early morning in New York and she could smell the delicate fragrance of her freshly washed bed linen. All in all it was a normal Saturday morning ... except for the warm weight she could feel against her back.

And as bad as she tried to remember how she got there, she couldn't. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on Fitz's shoulder on her couch and here they were spooning in bed with far less clothes than the previous day and as nice as it felt at this moment she'd very much like to know what happened for them to get there.

Slowly opening her eyes, she turned around and found Fitz looking at her with a soft smile on his face.

"Hi!" He said before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"Hi ..." She answered sleepily. "Hmm Fitz?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind telling me what happened because the last thing I remember I ..."

"You fell asleep on my shoulder yeah ... So I-I carried you to bed and I would have gone home to let you sleep but you kind of pulled me in with you and well ... I'm only a man ... and a rather weak one so ..." He said with a sheepish smile and she chuckled softly. "But nothing happened, I stayed on my side of the bed ... this" He said, gesturing to both of their bodies and how close they were. "The cuddling, it just kind of happened while we were sleeping ..."

"Oh Fitz!" She whispered, her voice still a bit coarse from sleep. "You're so sweet but you should have woken me up!" She added, pressing another soft kiss to his lips.

"No way! You were way too adorable all curled up against me and you had a long day, you deserved a good night sleep." He almost cried out and she couldn't help grinning like a madwoman. She could definitely get used to waking up with cuddles and kisses and adorable compliments.

"And would you happen to know where my trousers and bra went?" She asked, moving a teasing calf against his own and she grinned when he shuddered at the contact.

"Ah ...Erm ... well I thought it would be terribly uncomfortable to sleep with all your clothes on and since I'd already touched your ... erm your bottom already and you didn't seem to mind, I thought it was okay to take off you trousers. The bra you took it off on your own without even opening your eyes, like muscle memory or something. It was pretty impressive actually!" He grinned and she blushed prettily before grinning again at the memory of the night they met.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing just ... maybe if I did the same the night we met, we would have gotten there a lot sooner!" She said and they both chuckled.

"I knew it! I knew you wanted to get in my pants the moment we met!" He said teasingly and she swatted his chest.

"Well I kind of almost did ..." She answered with a mischievous smile.

"Hu?"

"Oh yeah I guess you don't remember that either ... Well I couldn't get you to give me your keys since you thought I was taking you to a monastery so ... I had to search your pockets ... the pockets of your very tight dress pants ... It's one of the fondest memories I have of you ..." She added with a smirk.

"Jemma!" He cried out and she burst out laughing at his affronted look.

"Oh come on, I'm kidding! You know I wouldn't take advantage of a drunken man!" She let out, rolling her eyes when her laughter subsided.

"I know ... not that most men would mind ... but yeah you're amazing that way ..." He said, pulling her closer and laying a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Mmmh Fitz?" She asked from where her face nestled in the crook of his neck.

"Yeah?"

"Did you forget what I told you about forehead kisses?" She asked and he chuckled.

"Oh yeah ... sorry ..." He let out then moved to kiss her temple then her cheek, her jaw until he got to her ear and sucked her earlobe between his lips for a few delicious moments. "What about that then?" He whispered against her ear and the thickness of his brogue sent shivers down her spine.

"Better ..." She breathed out. She could feel him smile smugly against her neck but it felt way too nice for her to do anything other than enjoying it. He gently pushed her to lay on her back and started pressing soft open mouth kisses to her neck then down to her pulse point and up the other side. Her heart was thumping in her chest and the small noises he made as he mapped her skin with his lips and tongue were slowly driving her crazy.

"Fitz ..." She half moaned as he reached the hem of her blouse. Her nipples were already hard and she knew he could see them through the thin fabric. If only he coud finally ...

"Oh!" She breathed out when his hands started tracing the hem of her blouse. His fingers slowly went from her neck to the spot between her breasts where the first button stopped his progression. The others must have popped open during their snogging from the past evening or at some point during the night. He popped the first of them through the hole, then the next and the one after that with a torturous slowness, until her blouse was finally open and fell to her side, revealing her naked stomach and breasts. She could hear him softly gasping at the sight and saw how dark his eyes became and she grinned at the knowledge of the effect her naked body had on him. She never really doubted her own attractiveness but it was still nice to get a reminder.

He recovered quickly and pushing her blouse further down her arms, he started kissing from her newly uncovered shoulders and towards her elbows and she pouted.

"And how's that?" He asked with a teasing tone.

"Not exactly what I had in mind ..." She let out and before he had the time for another teasing retort, she grabbed his hand and gently brought it to one of her breasts. He gasped once more and she couldn't help smiling, both at the feeling of his warm hands and at the way he instinctively gave a small squeeze.

"Oh ... okay then ..." He whispered and suddenly moved to the side to capture the nipple of her other breast into his mouth.

"Owww" She cried out as he started sucking and biting and if he'd been slow and gentle a moment ago, now he felt positively ravenous. With his other hand fondling her breast and his fingers pinching and teasing her nipple, it felt like he wanted to devour her and it sent her desire sky-rocketing. "Now that's ... oh ... that's much closer to ...what ... I had in mind." She breathed out between gasps of pleasure as she squeezed her legs together in a bid to relieve the aching need between her legs. It didn't work. Fortunately the psychic link that made them work so well together seemed to be in full effect in bed as well because he slowly let go of her nipple to start kissing down her stomach. His frenzy had calmed down a bit and slowly he hooked one finger on either side of her knickers and she could only nod when he looked back at her with a raised eyebrow and hungry eyes. She didn't remember anyone looking at her like that, with such adoration and passion and tenderness at the same time. She didn't think it was possible for one person to feel so many things at the same time without exploding but Fitz did and it was one more of those many things that made her fall for him.

As he slipped her knickers down her legs, she focused on his hands again. Once he got it our of the way, he also pushed the cover away and down to the floor. It was a bit cold so early in the morning and she almost had a mind to ask him to bring it back up on both of them but she figured it would get hotter very soon. And she did like the idea of seing him, all of him, whatever they would do next. He started kissing his way back up her calves and knees, making her giggle as his stubble tickled the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. But the giggle soon subsided and was replaced by breathy hums as he caressed her thighs then gently pushed her knees apart. His kisses brought him towards her center at a torturously slow pace, getting her more wound up than she'd been in a long time, until he finally kissed the skin of her outer lips and let his tongue slip in between to tease her extra sensitive clit.

She let out a low languid moan and as her hands grasped onto the mattress, she let herself get lost in the sweet sensation of his tongue and lips on her most sensitive parts and the rougher but no less arousing feeling of his hands that had descended and taken hold of her arse to control the angle of her hips. He probably didn't even realize how hard he was squeezing but the bruises that might form there later were definitely worth it considering the pleasure he was giving her at this moment.

"Fitz wait!" She breathed out after a moment and he immediately moved his face and hands away from her and it was all she could do not to whimper at the loss of contact. The sudden confusion and worry on his face couldn't completely hide the intense desire and love in his eyes and she knew she had the right idea.

"Oh ... did I do something wrong? Did I ..." He started but she cut him off immediately.

"No Fitz!" She cried out. "C'mere" She added, more softly, taking his hands to pull him up on top of her until his face was just inches from hers. "Trust me, this was the opposite of wrong ... this was very very good Fitz" She said with a wide smile, cupping his jaw to bring him closer and plant a kiss on his lips. She took her time to enjoy it, capturing his full lower lip between hers, smiling at how she managed to coax a gasp out of him with a simple kiss after all the kissing and more they'd done since the previous night.

"So what ..."

"I want to see you Fitz and I want it to be for the both of us ... for our first time I mean. I want to give you just as much pleasure as you're giving me. That's how our relationship works."

"Oh ..." A small smile bloomed on his face then.

"But I would definitely not be opposed to resuming THAT ... at some point later ..." She added with a little nod of her head towards the lower part of her body and his smile turned into a more seductive grin that sent a rush of wamth through her whole being.

"I will keep that in mind ..."

Then he brought his hands to cup her cheeks and started kissing her again. After a minute or so, his soft kiss turned into something more heated and soon he had to stop for air. He didn't go far though and started mouthing at her neck and chest again. When she parted her legs further to pull him closer to her, she was first delightfully distracted by the very noticeable bulge in his pants. After moving her hips up to satisfy the burning arousal he had ignited in her, she also realized that he was still wearing his jeans.

"Fitz?" She asked breathless.

"Mmhmm?" He hummed back, too busy trying to bend at on odd angle to sick on her nipples without breaking contact between their hips to form an articulate answer.

"Did you sleep in your jeans all night?"

"Mmmhmm yeah ... Honestly I didn't feel like going home or sleeping on the couch but I didn't want you to think that I expected anything of you ... well except for the cuddling and the sleeping in the same bed maybe ..." He answered suddenly looking a bit shy and her heart melted once more.

"Oh Fitz ... you are quite possibly the sweetest most adorable man I've ever met BUT ... I can't have you in my bed with so many clothes on, especially when you rid me of most of mine already ..." She answered with a wicked grin before putting a hand on his chest to push him slightly away. Taking advantage of his small moment of confusion, she pushed him some more and rolled him on his back, ending up on top of him with her legs bracketing his thighs. Before he had the time to react, she attacked the button and fly of his jeans, pulling them down with an eagerness that had him laughing in delight and nervousness. After ridding him of both his trousers and boxers, she took her blouse off completely before coming back to lie down next on her side next to him.

He turned around to face her and she immediately hooked one arm behind his neck and her leg around his hip to bring him closer.

"This is nice ..." She whispered against his lips, their forehead and nose just barely touching.

"More than nice ..." He answered with a tender smile before capturing her lips once more. They remained like that, kissing lazily and just enjoying each other's presence and warmth for a moment, but when Fitz's hand descended on her bum and pulled her a little tighter against him in that position, his erection bumped against her most sensitive bundle of nerves and she let out a rather embarrassingly loud moan. Getting the message, he moved his hips back and then against the same spot again and again until she breathed out his name.

"Fitz ... condom ... bedside table ..."

Pushing her gently on her back, he rolled over her and, kissing her hungrily, he blindly reached for the drawer and took what he supposed was a box of condoms. Moving back to kneel between her legs, he took one condom and threw the box back behind him without care for where it would land. The neat freak in her almost chastised him for doing this when it would have been just as easy to put it back where he found it but she was much too distracted by the very arousing sight of a fully naked Fitz rolling the condom on himself. Biting her lips in anticipation, she couldn't help noticing that he was blushing from the way she was looking at him.

It really was a new kind of feeling for her. Finding someone so adorable while being so incredibly turned on.

Taking his hands in hers, she pulled him to her once more until he was on top of her, her legs spread wide on both sides of his hips, and they were moaning at the contact.

"Can I ..." He started.

"Oh yeah ..." She answered, punctuating her answer with a kiss and he gave her the most tender smile.

Then, keeping his fingers laced through hers above her head and his forehead resting on hers, he moved to align himself and finally entered her with a loud sigh. If their snogging from the previous day had been hot and frenzied from the beginning, their lovemaking started slow and incredibly tender but no less passionate. He took his time to find the angle that worked best for her then rocking against her slowly but deeply, he managed to keep her in a state of constant pleasure and bliss.

She could easily have stayed like this for hours if he didn't move his hand to cup her jaw and kiss her deeply. When he broke the kiss, she opened her eyes again and saw the look of pure love and lust in his eyes and realized she'd been selfishly lying there, letting him do all the work. It wasn't like her to be so passive but it was just so sweet that she almost let herself get lost in the sensations he was creating within her, his cock hitting just the perfect spot on every thrust while the press of his body created a delicious friction against her clit. Of course she couldn't let that continue, she had to show him what she was capable of. Planting her feet firmly into the mattress and holding on tightly to his shoulders for leverage, she started moving her own hips in synchrony with his and soon they both started gasping, their pleasure increasing exponentially.

"Jemma ..." He breathed out, his Scottish brogue intensified by pleasure and she literally moaned as it sent a new rush of arousal to her core.

Her hands descended from his shoulders to squeeze his bum and pulling him harder against her.

"Jemma ..."

"Fitz!"

They both cried out at the same time and as he quickened his pace, she could feel that he was getting closer but fortunately so was she. As he kept himself above her, putting his weight one one elbow, his other hand went for her breast, massaging it and teasing her nipple between his fingers. Loving the way he was starting to lose control to let the passion take over him, she hooked her legs around his waist, intensifying the way he made her whole body shake with each strong thrust. And in this moment she was glad the wall her bed rested against was connected to her own bathroom or they might have woken a few of neighbors what with her moans getting louder and the bed knocking against the wall faster and faster.

"Fitz!" She moaned. "I'm so close I need ..." She started and he must have understood what she was trying to do with her legs because he let go of her breast and hooked both his arms under her knees to bring them over his shoulders, changing the angle and depth of his thrusts.

"Oh ..." She cried out as he hit hard against her g-spot. "Yes ... ooooh". As she felt the tingles in her legs that always announced an especially strong orgasm, he kept his frenzied pace and as he captured her lips in a heated kiss, she came with a muffled cry of ecstasy. Her orgasm came over her in waves from her center and as he slowed down his movements while keeping them strong, it felt like it would never end. It was so good that at some point, il almost became painful until it finally started to recede and she kind of blacked out.

Opening her eyes again, she realized that she had gone slack, almost flat on the mattress and he was looking down at her with tenderness and a smug little smile.

Well she couldn't have that could she? Letting him be so proud of himself when he was still painfully hard inside her and waiting for his own release. He seemed to be so close before that she thought he'd come with her but he apparently had some stamina left in him and she was determined to get the best of it.

Giving him a wicked little smile, she conjured all the strength she had left, hooked her legs and arms around him, pulled herself up a bit and made him roll on his back. She ended up on top of him without breaking their crucial connexion.

"Jemma you don't have to ... I can ... oh god!" He cried out as she squeezed her walls around him.

"You were saying?" She asked, her grin getting wider as she started slowly rolling her hips in small circles, feeling him twitch inside her.

"Noth .... oh god Jemma!" Bringing his hands to her thighs, he caressed up and down in time with her movements and suddenly she felt her own pleasure ratcheting up. It wasn't the pleasant feeling of afterglow anymore, it was like her orgasm never really receded and it was coming back for another wave.

"Fitz ..." She breathed out and he could clearly see how her grin turned into something different because his hands went up to her breasts, fondling and pinching her nipples at the same time. This seemed to increase both their pleasure because his breath was getting heavier and heavier and his hips started stuttering up against hers. Their pace was a bit chaotic but it worked anyway because soon he came with a drown out groan, his hands descending on her hips to help keep her balance as he thrust up hard into her a few times. And then she was following him, her orgasm much faster and more quiet than the previous one but still incredibly delightful.

When he finally stopped moving and finally went slack against the mattress, she went down to capture his lips in a soft kiss as he threaded his hands in her hair, making her shiver at the contact of his delicate fingers against her scalp. After one last sigh of contentment, she moved up and away for him, wincing a bit at how sensitive she felt now.

"Be right back!" He whispered before standing up to rid himself of the condom, giving her a really nice view of his back side before he came back to bed, gave him an equally nice view of his front side, and brought the cover on both of them. Resting her head on his chest , she thought it'd be nice to fall back asleep. After all it was still early and it was not like they needed to talk about what they just did, it was just the natural evolution of their relationship.

But Fitz apparently thought differently.

"So did you really have ... twice?" He asked a bit sheepishly and she rolled her eyes. He might have been the best she ever met but Fitz was still a man who couldn't help but worry about their performance.

"Yes Fitz!"

"Nice ..."

"Urgh Fitz ... do you want a fist bump or something?" She asked, looking up at him, her annoyance mixed with amusement.

"Oh no ... no no no I didn't mean it like that ... It's not a performance thing, I just ... I want you to enjoy yourself above anything else ..." He answered and her smile turned a bit softer. She knew there was still a bit of male ego behind all of this but it was low key enough to be attractive, especially when it came with all the sweetness that was Fitz.

"That's alright I guess you're allowed to be a little cocky ..." She said with a knowing smirk before pressing a kiss to his shoulder and he relaxed a bit before tightening his hold around her tiny waist to press her more firmly against him and lay a few kisses on her hairline. He was about to say something when his phone started beeping, letting him know he had several new text messages.

"Urrrgh" He groaned before trying to extend his hand towards the night stand to grab his phone without having to disentangle himself from Jemma. Mainly succeeding, his entered his lock code and smirked at Daisy's fifteen messages.

"It's Daisy ... she's been sending a message every five minutes in the last hour ..." He said.

"Oh ... I didn't even hear anything before the last one ..." She answered and his smirk widened.

"I know ... you were otherwise occupied ..." He let out, his voice suave and accent exaggerated and damn it, she knew he wasn't being serious but it was still ridiculously sexy ... until he waggled his eyebrows and she burst out laughing. "Hey!" He cried out and started to tickle her to get her attention, which was a very bad idea because growing up with a mean older brother and several older cousins, she learned early on how to beat bigger adversaries in a tickle fight and soon she found herself straddling his waist while he begged for mercy, and not even a bit self conscious about the fact that they were both still fully naked.

"Say it Fitz, say I'm the ultimate champion of tickle fights!"

"Come on Jemma we're not kids any ... ah ah ah no okay okay I'll say it just ... stop that!" He cried out in an embarrassingly high voice and she momentarily stopped the tickling, without taking her hands of his stomach though. Mostly to show that she was still in control and maybe just a bit to savor the feeling of his nicely toned abdomen under her hands.

"I'm listening ..." She said with a wide triumphant smile.

"You Jemma Simmons are the champion ..."

"Ah ah ..."

"ultimate sorry! Jemma Simmons, you are the ultimate champion of tickle fights and however ridiculous this title is, I love you even more for it!" He declared with a softening smile and it made her heart flutter in her chest. Descending upon him, she put her hands on either sides of his face and pressed her lips to his in a deep languid kiss.

"I guess that will do ..." She teased. "And I love you too Fitz ... actually I think I've never felt this happy before ..." She whispered breathlessly.

"I feel the same." He answered, pulling her into a tight hug.

"What did Daisy want?" She asked after another long moment of cuddling.

"Oh erm ... wondering if things are better between us ..." He answered with a small smile.

"Oh ... Yeah quite I'd say ..." She smirked. "Should we call her? She's been pretty helpful after all, she probably deserves to be the first one to know we're ..."

"Oh but don't you think it's a bit early to make it official?" He teased and she swatted his chest. "But yeah you're right ... let's make it quick then ... I have other plans for today ..." He grinned.

Looking for his phone that's been lost in the sheets during the fight, he unlocked it and activated the camera.

"What are you doing?"

"Sending her a picture!" He said then pulled her back against him so her head could rest on his shoulder. "With a bit of luck she'll be at the same time embarrassed and grossed out that she might have interrupted ... something and she'll leave us alone for some time!"

"Oh ...that's actually not a bad idea!" She said, scooting a little bit closer and pulling on the sheets to tuck them up a bit higher under her arms. With their naked arms and shoulders, disheveled hair and big lazy smiles, it was pretty obvious where they were and what happened, there was no need to show more!

Giving their best goofy grins, they took a few pictures before deciding on one and sending it to Daisy with a simple "things got better". As they waited for an answer, Fitz took this opportunity to check his emails and Jemma decided that it was still early and could do with some more cuddling before they could think of getting off bed.

"So do you have somewhere to be today or do you want to spend the day with me?" Jemma asked without even opening her eyes. Feeling Fitz's steady heartbeat just next to her ear was incredibly soothing and mixed with the endorphine still coursing through her veins, she was slowly lulled back to sleep.

"Well I'll have to go home to get a change of clothes at some point but other than that ... I'm all yours!" He answered and she could hear the grin in his voice, too comfortable where she was to actually look up.

"Nice ..." She answered and they both chuckled.

"You know it's a good thing that you don't mind spending even more time with me ..." He said, not able to completely hide the excitement in his voice.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" He answered, handing her his phone displaying his email app. She didn't even need to read it, just the name of the sender and the first few words.

"I knew it Fitz, I knew they'd give you the job. I'm so happy for you!" She said hooking her arms behind his neck to hug him. "We're going to be together ALL.THE. TIME. AND. IT. IS. GOING. TO BE. AMAZING!" She said, punctuating each word with a kiss on his face to finish with one on the lips that soon turned more heated as he snaked his arms around her waist to bring her closer.

"So you're not scared that we're going to spend too much time together now that our relationship has changed? I mean things were different when I had the interview ..." He asked, breathless, when they broke the kiss.

"Well ... I know I probably should be ... but I'm not. I'm not ready to let go of any part of our relationship, wether it's the work part, our friendship or ... this new side of it I'm quite eager to start exploring a bit more ..." She finished with a lascivious smile.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah ..."

"So we're really doing this, aren't we?"

"Yes I think so ... I'm afraid you're stuck with me Leo Fitz ..." She said before capturing his lips in a slow kiss once more but before it had the time to go where she wanted it to go, Fitz's phone beeped.

Groaning, he grabbed his phone and burst out laughing when he opened the picture Daisy sent him. She was obviously still in bed as well, although alone and wearing a pyjama and she was making a very exaggerated gagging face. Her picture was accompanied by a few successive text messages.

{Daisy}: Ewwwwww you guys gross! I don't need to see your after sex faces!

{Daisy}: A simple "we banged things are good" would have been enough!

{Daisy}: Also maybe I'm a bit jealous because you two look nauseatingly cute and happy. So you guys are really good right?

Both Fitz and Jemma let out a small "awww" at that last message because they both knew their friend was sincerely happy for them. Then Jemma let out a loud chuckle when she read the one Daisy had sent on her phone.

{Daisy}: Girls night sometime this week to tell me more about it ... I'm grossed out a bit but I'm also way too curious.

"You're not gonna tell her anything are you?" Fitz asked with a nervous smile when she showed him her phone.

"Nooooo of course no ... nothing important at least ..." She answered with a wicked smile.

"Jemma ..." He warned.

"Come on she's my best female friend ... I have to tell her a few things that's how it works. And you know how I like to follow the rules ..." She said, batting her eyelashes at him with an innocent look that was a bit undermined by her current state of nakedness.

Fitz seemed to be studying her for a moment, the cogs in his mind visibly turning as he was searching for the best course of action. Having apparently made a decision, he took his phone, wrote a quick "Oh we're really good!" text to Daisy then threw his phone back on the bed side table, and, moving quickly, he rolled Jemma on her back again, ending up on top of her.

"Fiiiitz" She squealed delightedly. "What are you doing?"

"Well ..." He started as he kissed her neck and quickly went down towards her breast and stomach. "If you're gonna talk to her ..." He nipped and bit and kissed all over her chest and she knew it'd leave bruises but she couldn't bring herself to care when it felt so nice. "... I better make it a good story!" He finished and kept on his journey south.

She already had a lot of very nice things to say about him but a girl never had too much very good sex stories to tell, did she?

-0-0-0-

Six months later

Putting her hair into a high ponytail, Jemma took a quick look into the mirror before grabbing her keys and getting out of her apartment. This was going to be a long week-end. No time to lose.

As she opened the door to get out of her building, she was stopped in her tracks by something she hadn't seen in a long time: Leo Fitz sitting in the stairs, his hands in his head.

That's when she realized how much she'd actually missed him.

But she didn't have too much time to let her mind wander to a year ago when she saw him like that for the first time because the sound of the door was enough to get him out of the train of thoughts he'd been apparently lost in. When he looked up at her, a wide smile illuminated his face and she couldn't help smiling back. In the six months since their relationship took a new turn, spending almost every minute of every day together, she only fell in love with him more and more and couldn't wait to wake up to his face every morning for the rest of their lives.

"But Fitz I thought you were supposed ..."

"To wait for you at home and finish packing?"

"Yeah ..."

"Well I finished last night and I was up early because I was just too excited to move in with you!" He said with an almost childish smile and her heart melted. Being one stair up, she took advantage of being taller than him for a change and pressed a kiss to the top of his hair when he stood up to face her.

"So I thought I'd come pick you up so we could have coffee and scones on the way ..." He added.

"So why didn't you come in?" She asked, her brows furrowed in amused confusion.

"Didn't want to wake you up, with the jet lag and everything, I know you needed your sleep..." He answered with a soft smile as he put a strand of her hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear and she instinctively leaned her cheek against his hand, sighing contentedly.

"Fitz, it's only been a week with just a few conferences to attend to and I flew first class thanks to us being Tony Stark's new favorite employees ..." She answered with a teasing smile.

"Oh right 'cause we're geniuses ..."

"Not to mention absolutely adorably British ... his words not mine!" She added with a wide smile and they both chuckled.

"Still ... didn't want to bother you too early ..." He said and she snaked her arms around his waist to hug him.

"I missed you ..." She whispered in his ear and smiled at how it made him shiver. Apparently the honeymoon phase wasn't over between them and she wondered if it ever would.

"But Jemma ... it's only been a week ..." He teased.

"Still too long when I'm away from you ..." She answered with a kiss to his lips before disentangling herself from him.

"So ..." She started as she took his hand. "Ready to go and start this new collaboration Dr Fitz?"

"Ready when you are Dr Simmons!" He answered and they started walking to his apartment. He would have made a joke about how cliché it was that they were walking in the exact direction of the sunrise but it was actually so perfect that he just tightened his hold on her hand and they kept on walking. Towards his soon to be former apartment and new life.


End file.
